


North American Hurricane

by Ashynarr



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: All prompts open for adoption, Drabble Collection, Gen, Warnings for Specific Chapters will be in their Own Notes, just ask first!, multiple AUs
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-04-07
Updated: 2016-07-03
Packaged: 2018-03-12 03:44:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 36
Words: 56,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3342326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ashynarr/pseuds/Ashynarr
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the same vein as Bunnies For Your Amusement, I now bring you my collection of Hetalia Kink Meme oneshots and short stories featuring the North American twins, America and Canada! Contains a mix of Kink Meme, Tumblr, and Original prompts across multiple AUs and variants of canonverse.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Puppy!Canada

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First chapter of this collection from ffnet I'm actually willing to repost; the ones before it all suck badly enough that I don't want you guys to be able to judge me for them. 
> 
> Prompt: Hmmm...I want puppy!Canada (just the ears and tail ;u;) looking for someone to take care of him, that someone being America. just fluff
> 
> Posted April 7 2013.

England and magic didn't usually mix at the best of times. When he was drunk? It was best to get out of the way for the rest of the day (although, as the Bad Friends trio had learned, even distance didn't always save one if he was well and determined to cast a spell on them).

This time, his target was America. While normally this wouldn't be too bad - after all, the superpower had dealt with wayward spells since he was young and thus knew how to make the best of whatever came his way - the poor Nation being cornered by a drunk and magical Brit was in fact said superpower's twin brother Canada.

"Arthur, it's me." The Canadian plead, trying to get through to his former mentor. No such luck.

"Ya can' fool me, Alfred~" The Englishman cackled. "This is payback for- for- that thing ya did." Oh great, he was really out of it. His wand raised, swinging down at the panicked teenager.

"Hey guys, sorry I'm-"

A huge burst of smoke and light engulfed the corner, quickly spreading through the room and making it difficult to see… and breathe.

"-late - the fuck?" America coughed as the smoke got into his lungs, arm waving at the air until it had cleared enough for him to see where it had come from.

The island Nation was knocked out on the floor, face flushed from the alcohol in his system. And sitting in the corner, eyes wide with panic, was-

"…Matt?"

A whimper came from the now much younger boy, new dog ears folding back nervously as he gazed around the room. There was no recognition in those eyes, and they also lacked a bit of the human intelligence that indicated that the Nation was still in control. For the moment this wasn't Canada, that much was clear.

France stepped forward, surprised but also delighted to see his 'little boy' back again, even if it was temporary. "Matthieu, my boy, come here~"

The Canadian just pressed back into the wall, staring fearfully at the approaching Nation. America, without hesitation, stepped in between them, preventing the European from advancing.

"He doesn't recognize any of us right now, so just walking up to him isn't gonna help."

"America is correct." Germany agreed from where he was standing, surprising several Nations. "Right now Canada seems to have the mind of a young dog, so you have to approach him as such."

"Thanks, Lud." America flashed a grin in the other's direction before returning his attention to his 'brother', who had calmed down a bit. He crouched down, extending his hands out but not making annoy other movement towards the child. "Hey there, it's me, Al; you can trust me, alright?"

Slowly, ever so slowly, Canada stood up from his spot, revealing a tail that had previously been hidden behind him. He approached the superpower with caution, stopping at one of the hands to sniff at it. No one made a sound, not wanting to scare the boy anymore.

Finally the boy relaxed, smiling at America who smiled back in no small amount of relief. When the boy stepped within his arms, the larger Nation caught him up and lifted him so the child was resting against his chest. Everyone seemed to sigh in relief, knowing the first hurdle was over.

France approached quietly, hovering nearby. Canada saw him and folded his ears back a bit, but otherwise seemed to be fine with it, apparently feeling braver when under his twin's protection. The European sighed, picking up the unconscious form of his mortal frenemy. "I'll get this fool to bed while you deal with Matthieu; hopefully the spell doesn't last too long, or Arthur at least knows the counter."

America nodded, showing he understood. As the two made their way out of the room, the superpower seemed to remember something and turned back to the others. "Ah, meetings are cancelled until everything's back to normal. Sorry guys, duty calls and all that…"

With that they made their exit, each heading off in their own direction to deal with their respective charges.

~0~0~

The American set his magicked twin down on the living room floor, having gone back to his apartment with the child so he could keep a better watch on him. The boy stared back up at him, eyes only closing when his brother ruffled his head with a chuckle.

"You hang out here, alright? I'll get ya something to eat and then… I dunno, I'll think of something." With that he turned his attention to making an early dinner, occasionally glancing over to make sure the child hadn't disappeared.

He'd only just decided that, yes, it was probably safe for his brother to have mac n cheese, when the doorbell rang. Wondering who it could be, he opened the front door to see Hungary standing there, Canada's missing clothing in hand. That was what had been nagging at him, but he'd been distracted with admittedly more important things.

"You left these at the meeting." She stated, handing them over to the thankful young Nation.

"Sorry 'bout that - Matt'll be happy to have these when he's back to normal."

The European nodded, peeking behind him as if hoping to catch a glimpse of the boy. "Where is he?"

"In the living room right now; last I saw he was playing with the-"

Noise exploded from living room, and panicked whining followed quickly.

"-crap, sorry Liz, thanks for bringing Matt's stuff!" The door slammed shut, America throwing the clothing onto the kitchen table as he passed through to where the TV was blaring, Canada hiding behind the couch. The American picked up the abandoned remote, shutting the system off before placing the remote out of the reach of small hands.

Still whining and sniffling, the child looked up at his brother, silently pleading for comfort. The superpower scooped the smaller Nation up, laughing lightly as he ruffled his hair. "I'm thinking we keep you away from the TV while you're like this, alright?"

The Canadian didn't understand, but just clang close, hiding his face in his brother's shoulder. The American sighed, returning to the kitchen with the boy in hand, making dinner with his free hand while the other calmed down. At some point Canada starting teething on his shoulder, but thankfully his shirt got the worst end of the deal as it was chewed on with glee.

After dinner, which had been rather messy and ended with half the food on the floor, the magicked Nation yawn, eyes and ears drooping with exhaustion. He sat still while America cleaned up the worst of the mess, and when he was picked up he snuggled into the warmth the other provided, shutting his eyes and starting to snooze even as he was put into a bed.

America left the room once he was sure his brother was asleep. After another half hour cleaning up and generally making sure everything was where it should be, the superpower felt himself beginning to drift off as well, and joined his twin in sleep.

The next morning would start with Canada falling off the bed in a panic while his brother laughed, the former now back to normal and sans clothing but for his shirt. Once the southern twin had explain what had happened (much to the northern brother's mortification), they both agreed that this was one of those moments they would never speak about again.

[…not that America kept to that promise, but that's another story.]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short piece, but still decent. If you're starting from here just now and you see the latest post is near-current, I encourage you to go through everything just to see how my writing's changed over the past two years. Sometimes it still boggles me how much my writing's evolved just from the constant practice. Never give up, kids - change takes time, but it's totally worth it!


	2. Of Wings and Other Things (ACE Family)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr Prompt: Imagine one (or more) member(s) of your polyship having wings and wrapping them around the other members as they cuddle together while sleeping. 
> 
> [Fairly platonic USUKCan]
> 
> Posted April 17 2013

"Alright, I think that's enough for you tonight." Alfred sighed, dragging Arthur (who had for some reason ended up in his Britannia Angel form somewhere during the course of the evening - thankfully the only other people around to see were other Nations) off the counter he was waving his wand around on. Thankfully the angel hadn't had the focus to actually cast anything so far, and the younger Nation hoped to keep it that way.

"Man, you're heavy," He groused as he hefted the smaller man up, half-dragging half-carrying him out of the room and down the hall in the direction of the guest rooms. "I bet it's those wings of yours…"

Suddenly the weight lessened, and the American looked over to see his brother Matthew had ducked in under their former mentor's other arm before mimicking him. "Hey Al."

"Hey Matt; help me get this guy to a room so he can sleep this off."

With a nod the two continued on their way, the task much easier with two of them carrying Arthur. In a few minutes they had reached their destination, Matthew opening the door so they could stumble in and shut it behind them. The room had just enough light to see by, so it was easy enough to drag the island Nation to the bed and dump him on it.

"Whew!" Alfred sighed in relief, rolling his shoulder. "I swear he's heavier when he's like this."

"Drunk, or in his angel form?" Matthew asked, only to receive a shrug in response. He sighed; movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention, and he turned to see Arthur rolling onto his side, wings half-closed behind him.

The American hummed thoughtfully. "Hey Matt, have you ever actually felt his wings before?"

"No… why?"

Alfred didn't reply right away, instead moving to sit beside the angel, reaching over to feel the wings carefully. "Woah, these are soft…"

"Alfred…" Matthew warned, only to get a pleading look form his brother.

"C'mon Matt, just feel them for a second!"

After a minute, he sighed, relenting to the other and sitting beside him so he could feel the wings as well. His brother was right - the feathers were very soft, and it didn't notice the grin the southern Nation was sending him for a bit.

The Canadian moved to pull back, only to yelp in surprise when he was suddenly pulled down into an embrace by the still-sleeping Nation.

"Matt, you okay?" Alfred asked, pulling back to try and help his brother out.

"Yeah, I'm fine…" Matthew replied, trying to squirm out of the hold. No such luck. "Can you help me out of here, please?"

"Alright." The American started carefully tugging at the arms around his brother, trying to get them to loosen. When they eventually relented, he grinned only to feel himself get dragged down as well. Arthur's wings moved to wrap around them, trapping the brothers with the sleeping angel.

"…that could have gone better." Alfred mumbled, trying to move so he wasn't pressed quite so uncomfortably against his brother.

"You think?" The Canadian replied, wincing when one of the other's movements ended up jabbing a knee into his leg. "Just stop moving already; we're stuck until he wakes up."

"Fine, fine."

After a few minutes with the American lying on top of his brother, both were starting to feel drowsy. The wings' softness acted as a warm blanket around them, and because of the dim lighting and lack of noise, there was nothing to keep the two from eventually succumbing to sleep.

In his slumber, Arthur smiled knowingly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...yeah, it's a cute threesome. Shut up.


	3. MD America Drabbles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Personal Prompt: Basically a variant of the Manifest Destiny Redux bunny, but where it's only Al plotting to take over the world.
> 
> Warning: Dark!America
> 
> [Posted April 17 2013]

"You need to pull your troops out."

Not this again. Alfred internally rolled his eyes while only showing mild confusion to the annoyed Brit across from him. "Why?"

"Because you've already dealt with the all the crime lords and dictators and whatever else reasons you claimed to go in for more than a month ago." Arthur told him.

"No way!" The American told him. "I know there are still bad guys hiding, I've been getting tons of reports about it. I can't leave now! And besides, who'll give the people there aid if I leave?"

"The UN is more than prepared to-"

"Bullshit." Alfred interrupted. "You said that last time, but last I checked Maria  _still_  hasn't gotten all the aid you guys promised ten years ago."

"Well there were issues with some of the shipments-"

"That wouldn't have happened if I had still had my guys in charge there. Heck, she would have completely rebuilt by now with my help."

Arthur sighed in frustration. "The circumstances are completely different. There is no reason for you to stay, Alfred, so pull your troops out."

"And what if I don't?" The American challenged, standing and placing his hands on the desk. "What if I actually do my job and help these countries who need it?"

"The UN will not stand for this-"

"Then the UN can sit down and shut the hell up, since they can't seem to do anything else."

While the Englishman sputtered, Alfred sighed. "I'll pull out when you guys actually start bringing in supplies, alright? But I don't want to just leave the people hurting when I don't have to."

Arthur gave him a long look, before sighing in defeat. "Alright, you can stay until the supplies arrive."

The superpower grinned. "Thanks, Arthur."

"Yes, yes," The Brit replied with a small smile of his own. "I know you and your need to help everyone…"

"That's me. Sorry about snapping at you."

"Quite alright, I can understand your frustration. If you'll excuse me…"

The Englishman left, never noticing the calculating way in which the American watched him once he turned his back.

"Oh, you're excused all right."

~0~0~

It was rare when Arthur awoke in a different place than he went to sleep. Blinking bleary eyes, the Brit slowly gained awareness of his surroundings as he tried to move from his uncomfortable position.

No such luck. As he realized with growing worry, he was tied rather effectively to a chair, the only object in the light grey room. Who could have done this, and for what purpose? He wasn't listed in any official documents as a particularly high ranked member of government.

Footsteps approached, eventually stopping at some point behind him. He quickly pretended to be unconscious still, hoping to get what information he could from his captors before they realized he was awake. A door opened, and the unhurried footsteps entered, not bothering to shut it behind them.

They walked around the chair, stopping in front of him. Arthur kept his breathing slow and steady, waiting for something to happen.

"…I know you're awake, Arthur."

The Englishman's head snapped up at the familiar American voice. "Alfred?"

Yes, the world superpower stood before him now, calm smile (unlike his old unabashed grins, his mind reminded him) unwavering despite the situation his former mentor was in. Instantly the man allowed himself to relax, because clearly the other was here to get him out of this mess.

"Thank goodness you're here; could you help me out of these ropes? We need to get out of here before whoever caught me returns…"

He trailed off as Alfred made no move to help him. Instead the other's smile seemed to get a bit… sharper. "Now why would I do that, Arthur? You just got here, after all."

Arthur started to feel the beginnings of panic stir in the back of his mind. "What are you talking about?" The American couldn't possibly…

The smile may have been innocent, but there was no questioning the malice in those eyes. "Well, if my friendly request to your boss goes through, you're going to be staying with me for a very long time, so I figured I'd give you your own room now. Maybe if you behave I'll even let you decorate it later."

"You can't just take over another country!" But what could he do right now? There was no way he could get out of these ropes and make his escape with the other Nation right there, and he had no doubt that the American had cameras on him constantly.

"You're right." Alfred agreed. Before Arthur could register his surprise vocally, he continued. "That's why I'm taking over all of them."

"… _what?_ "

The smile became dangerous. "Did you really think I'd  _forgotten_  what you all put me through? Did you really think I'd just  _forgive_  you?"

"…you've been pretending all this time, then?"

The American moved to leave, but sent one last grin at his captive. "What do you think?"

With that the other man left, door clicking shut behind him.

~0~0~

"I won't let you get away with this."

Alfred looked up from his papers at the irate Frenchman, idly curious as to what had brought him by. "Get away with what?"

"You think we haven't heard? Days after Arthur goes missing, and suddenly there's rumors of Great Britain planning on becoming part of the United States?"

"I haven't heard any rumors like that." Because they weren't rumors. Too bad their government was delaying as long as possible until they found a way out. Luckily that had been accounted for, so there was nothing to worry about.

Francis' eyes narrowed. "I don't know what's going through that head of yours, but you aren't going to succeed."

The superpower leaned back, not betraying anything in his expression. "I have no idea what you're talking about; I'd love to chat more but I'm sort of busy managing the paperwork from all the operations going on right now." He smiled apologetically. "Maybe some other time?"

The European man frowned. Alfred knew the other Nation had nothing worthwhile on him or his plans, so couldn't actually do anything. "…you're playing a dangerous game, boy."

The smile the American returned showed only the barest hint of malice. "I'm not the only one playing, and I'm not the one who started it."

Let him mull over that for a while, he mused to himself as the European finally left. After all, they did bring this on themselves.

It was only fair he got to level the playing field in his favor.

~0~0~

"What is wrong with you?"

America turned to look back at the smaller Asian man, who was staring at him with a frustrated and confused expression.

"Nothing really. Why?"

"That's just it! Why aren't you mocking me about being a 'commie' or yelling at the top of your lungs about how you're the hero?"

Alfred shrugged, acting mildly confused. "…I haven't done that in years, though. The other guys made it clear ythey didn't appreciate that type of thing."

To be fair, the last time the two had spoken had been decades ago, during the time where it seemed like North Korea might actually rejoin the world community. And he had been like that back then, but a lot had changed over the years.

His eyes narrowed. "And you just listened? I may not know you as well as the rest of them, but I know you aren't the type of person to just roll over and do what others tell you to do. What are you up to?"

Suspicious, was he? Alfred could use that. "Dunno what you're talking about."

The smaller man looked him straight in the eye. "Increasing number of troops in your military? Military operations in numerous undeveloped countries? I'm not a fool - you're building an empire, aren't yo-"

Alfred had him pinned to the wall in an instant, covering the other's mouth and enjoying the spark of fear and defiance in the Asian man's eyes.

"You're treading in dangerous waters. It would be inconvenient for me if people started questioning where you'd gone…" The American's dark gaze only made the grin that followed more unnerving. "…not that anyone would question you going into isolation again, now would they?"

The smaller Nation kept himself from shaking, but once again he knew he was caught up in the games of Nations much more powerful than him.

All he could hope was that he'd make it out of the mess alive.

~0~0~

Alfred stared down the barrel of the gun in his face, expression carefully neutral. He didn't want to say the wrong thing to the trigger-happy Russian on the other end, after all - it would cost a fortune to have the carpets and wall replaced because of all the blood.

"Give me one good reason not to kill you."

The American tore his gaze away from the latest in Russian weapons technology to stare at Ivan. "Because I'll survive this, while your sisters…" He shrugged. "Well, who knows what'll happen to them?"

Violet eyes narrowed. "You bluff."

"Is it? Do you really think, after how far I've come, I'd overlook something like that, knowing we would meet like this at some point?"

The taller man's finger rubbed over the trigger, but didn't pull back. "You would not have had the time necessary to hurt them significantly without warning."

The superpower quirked his lip upward just a hint. "Care to place a bet on that?"

~0~0~

2040 ELECTIONS

It'd been close. Since the current president had just finished his second term, that meant there were two new candidates each vying for the position, each half of the country behind their choice.

It was a story Alfred F. Jones had live through many times over. But unlike most times where he had no particular interest in which one won, he was keeping a very close eye as the polls closed and the points and votes updated.

He felt a hand on his shoulder. His soon to be former boss, President Miller, gave the shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

"You're worrying again."

"I know, sir." The American personification responded. "But everything's counting on him winning this. We may have plans for if the other guy wins, but those'll set us back at least a year-"

"I know you're itching to get started, but you've waited this long - what's another year compared to the whole future before us?"

The superpower quirked a smile. "I guess. Too bad you can't get reelected again."

The president chuckled. "I think eight years is long enough for me. Besides, I'll still be here even if I'm not in power."

It seemed like years later, but finally the announcement came in.

Anthony Fredrick was going to be the 48th president of the United States of America.

The plan was proceeding smoothly.

~0~0~

64TH PRESIDENTIAL INAUGURATION [JAN 20TH, 2041]

"…so help me God."

With that the private inauguration for the 48th President of the United States was complete. Everyone broke for the luncheon, congratulating President Fredrick in his new position.

Alfred was not one of them, content in waiting until the private introduction later on in the day. It would also be when he would be brought into the plans for both the country and the world as a whole.

There was always a chance he would panic, of course, but at this point they were slim. He'd shown the right sort of attitude to both accept his existence and be willing to go along with their plans. Of course it would be explained as a mercy rather than a conquering, but it amounted to the same thing.

Finally it was time. Alfred stood by the window looking out across the capital, lost in his thoughts. The door behind him opened, and he didn't even need to turn and look to know who it was. "Hello, Mr. President."

"Who are you?" President Fredrick asked, confused. "All they told me was that you were someone I needed to talk to."

The Nation turned and smiled (no longer grinned). "My name is Alfred F. Jones, otherwise known as the United States of America. As of today you are my new boss."

Of course, he was skeptical at first - who wouldn't be? But it was easy to convince the man he was who he said he was.

"Will I meet others like you, then?"

Alfred gave another smile, a bit sharper. "All of them at some point. The first one you'll meet is probably Matthew, who happens to be Canada and my… brother."

"You paused."

"I have my reasons. Did you ever learn about the temporary slump in US-Canadian and US-British relations a few decades back?"

"Hasn't everyone? It had something to do with a major diplomatic fallout, didn't it?"

Alfred smile thinned. "You could call it that. Let's just say my brothers were… less than pleased with my attitude back then, and called me out on it."

"…oh."

"With that being said, I have a few more things to tell you before you leave today…"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really, really love Dark!Alfred. I am not sorry for this at all.


	4. Bunny Drabbles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Collection of drabbles from my various plot bunnies in Bunnies For Your Amusement.
> 
> [Posted April 17 2013]
> 
> [Updated Jan 5 2014]

Twincest & Co-Dependency (V1):

It was more than a week before either of them really noticed anything out of the ordinary.

Of course, both were adjusting to having sight out of only one eye, and often they would misjudge the distance to something, leading to a lot of bruised limbs and angry cussing. They had been staying at Canada's house, feeling that the adjustment would go faster with someone there to help. Of course, Nanuq often lurked nearby, ready to step in when one was about to tumble down the stairs or the like, but for the most part it was just them.

America had suddenly stopped, hissing in pain. Across the back of his hand a bruise started to form. Canada had been moving to help him when his hand suddenly flared in pain. He glance down at it to see a matching bruise to his brother's spreading across it.

The superpower hadn't noticed his brother's situation yet, too busy muttering under his breath. "Damnit, why did it have to go out now? I told them-"

"-ages ago that the bridge was old, but they never bothered to go and fix it." Canada blinked. Had those words just come out of his mouth?

America glared at him suspiciously. "How did you know that?"

"I- I don't know... I just-" The northern Nation brought his hands up to his head, only to have the bruised hand grabbed by his brother.

The southern Nation was staring at it in shock. "Mattie, how long have you had this?"

"...I just got it."

America said nothing, only turning the hand and bringing his own to compare the bruises. After a long moment of silence, his eyes rose to capture his brother's. "What's happening to us?" He asked, voice quiet.

Canada couldn't answer.

~0~0~~0~0~~0~0~

The Star Gate Program:

((Headcanon: Tony is an Asgardian.))

Canada stared. Blinked. Opened his mouth to speak. "When, exactly, were you going to tell us about Tony being a member of an advanced alien race who just so happened to be allied with the Ancients?"

The others in the briefing room also stared at the superpower, who was sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. "Well, I've known for a while now... it just never seemed like that big a deal. I mean, obviously any alien with a spaceship is gonna be more advanced than us, so I though you'd already guessed..."

"Alfred..." General Hammond groaned, rubbing his forehead.

"He asked me to keep quiet about it! He's my friend, and I don't rat out friends!"

"It's alright, friend Alfred." Everyone turned to see the alien they had just been talking about beam into the room, and America grinned and waved.

"Hey, Tony! Thought you were out doing some more research or something."

"My programs monitoring Stargate Command picked up my name and yours in the system, and I assumed the secret had gotten out. I suppose I should have informed them as soon as contact with my brethren was re-established, but to be honest, I've been enjoying my stay here on Earth."

"Research? What kind of research?" O'Neill's eyes narrowed, focused on the Asgardian.

"What many others are researching - a way to reverse or halt our genetic degradation."

Canada's eyes immediately switched to his brother, who grinned weakly. "And you knew this, too?"

A light nod. "Well yeah, and I figured helping him out wouldn't be too bad, since I'm a hero and everything. Seriously Matt, there's no harm in it, and if it helps, well, I've saved a whole race! I think that's a good cause, right?"

A groan from the northern Nation. "You'd probably help a Goa'uld if they asked nicely, wouldn't you?"

The superpower looked offended. "Of course not! They're the bad guys! You know me better than that..."

Carter looked interested. "How long have you been living with him?"

Tony glanced at America, who tilted his head slightly before frowning lightly. "Several years now. He's been a most gracious host during my stay."

"I see... you wouldn't consider moving to a safer location, would you?" The General didn't believe the alien would need it, but it was an obligatory question.

"I am quite safe at my current residence, thank you."

"Alright then..."

"If that's everything, General Hammond?"

"You're free to go."

Both America and Tony vanished. Canada groaned. "I'll talk to him, General."

"You do that, son."

~0~0~~0~0~~0~0~

All Expenses Paid Vacation:

Alfred could feel the eyes of people on him as he made his way down the dusty street, and to be honest he couldn't say he was surprised. His clothes were neat and clean, if a bit old, and weren't covered in dust or grime or whatever else seems to linger on almost everyone and everything he walked past.

It felt... wrong.

Oh, he'd heard enough to guess at a few things – this was a world marked by a lack of extensive resources from the start. With almost everything being so rare and thus valuable, up to and including basic necessities like food and clean water, the people had had to learn to be extremely efficient and stingy with what they had.

Seeing the thinner faces and forms of people here, he realized it may not be the clothes they were staring at.

He ducked his head and hurried on, not wanting to linger any longer than he had to.

~0~0~~0~0~~0~0~

Thunderbird:

America's pen tapped a rhythm-less beat against the meeting table, eyes glazed over as the Nation currently speaking continued to drone on about... something. He knew he should be paying more attention, but he had zero interest in the subject.

Why did there have to be a meeting today? Looking outside, he could see the bright blue skies all but beckoning him to just take a few days off, head up north, and really let go and enjoy the nice weather.

Ulgh. Why had he let himself become involved in world politics again? Oh, right, Cold War. Damn.

He missed his life in isolation, where he didn't have to worry about the world finding out about his alter ego and, worse, his side job of keeping the less friendly of his magical beings from causing too much chaos. He also made occasional visits to the remaining tribes to help in whatever small ways he could as an apology – thankfully they recognized the Thunderbird even if they were still unhappy with America.

It sucked keeping a secret this big from even his brothers, but he didn't have a choice – if they knew they'd demand to get involved, and even with Nanuq the hunter protecting his northern twin and the numerous fae protecting the island Nation, there was still a chance they'd be hurt or even killed, and he refused to live with the guilt of that.

(If he was honest with himself, it also was sort of nice having something that was his and his alone. If the others knew... would they demand him to hand it over?

He knew he wouldn't be able to.)

"Alfred, pay attention!" America was startled out of his thoughts by England when the latter slammed the table next to him. "I swear you have the attention span of a gnat."

The superpower put on a nonchalant grin. "C'mon Arts, this is all so boring! Can't we just take a break already? It's like an hour past lunchtime and I'm freaking starving here!"

The Brit groaned. "I swear the only thing you think with is you stomach! You're supposed to be a Nation – act like it for fuck's sake!"

America laughed it off, watching the other Nation leave and pretending the comment hadn't hurt at least a little.

~0~0~~0~0~

((I'm sorry, I had to. I got curious and couldn't resist the fact that they had the same name.))

He should have expected it. After all, he couldn't have been the only one reborn out of all the spirits who had once walked the Earth.

But being visited by Finland out of the blue and cheerfully asked, "Do you think I could take a look?"

Well. In America's defense the other Nation could have worded it better.

Upon seeing the young Nation's face turn an interesting shade of red Finland backtracked while laughing. "Sorry, I meant your true form."

America quickly went from red to white. "How- I never- When-"

"When your grandfather is the god of the Sky, one usually finds out about things like a supposedly dead race of sky spirits suddenly being back. Of course, when I found out who it was I had to come and visit!"

It took about ten seconds after the Nordic had cheerfully made his way past him and into the living room to process all of that and chase after. "Wait, your grandfather-"

"What was it like, flying again?"

"Amazing." America knew he was being manipulated, but the other's words just seemed so... so... "I mean, I'd had dreams, but actually flying..." He smiled a bit, thinking back fondly on the experience. He then blinked, frowning as the compulsion wore off. "How-"

Finland chuckled. "Sorry, bard. I don't know what it's like to fly, and mom and grandfather aren't really helpful."

"Wait, wait, wait..." The American lifted a finger, silencing the other Nation. "...you're like me?"

"Yes! Well, sort of... I'm the son of a spirit, but I was born human. Ish. Have a few benefits of divine lineage – immortality, a bit of magic, you know, the usual."

"...then what's your name? Your real one, I mean?"

Finland quirked an eyebrow, still smiling. "Väinämöinen. Although I usually go by Tino nowadays. And yours?"

"Which tribe? I swear all of them had different names for me... the English one is 'Thunderbird'. But usually I go by Alfred."

"Great! Now, about that other form of yours..."

It took several hours of convincing on Finland's part to make the American finally relent, pulling the cloak out of its new (and temporary) hiding place and leading the other to the field.

America decided it was somewhat worth it once he reopened his eyes to see the awe in the other's expression.

The glint in his eyes, however, was a bit more worrying.

~0~0~~0~0~

It was the smell that reached him first.

America and his brother had been out hiking the trails of the latter's land, enjoying the cooler weather before the snow made it harder to follow the old paths. Nanuq walked in front of them, keeping pace with the two as they chatted about nothing in particular.

The southern twin had just glanced back to the bear when he stopped, nose scrunched up. He took a whiff himself, resisting the urge to suddenly gag as he came to a screeching halt, face paling. Canada stopped as well, asking what was wrong, but America didn't notice, his mind entirely focused on the area around them. He knew that smell, all too well.

_Wendigo._

And the worst part was that he didn't have his cloak with him, which would make dealing with the nigh-immortal monstrosity all but impossible, especially with his brother there to defend.

"Uh, Mattie, I just remembered something, we need to get back to the house really fast, alright?"

"Al? What are you- hey!" The Canadian was interrupted by his bear tugging insistently on his jacket, pulling him back the way they came. "What has gotten into you two?"

America grabbed his brother's arm and started dragging him along, ignoring the other as his eyes searched for any sign of the beast. If they could just make it back to the safety of the house and the wards therein they'd be fine, but out here-

A branch snapped in the woods. All three jerked their heads in that direction, seeing nothing but more shadows. The pace picked up, now closer to a light jog than a walk. The only reason they weren't running at this point was because that would give them away and invite a chase, something the American desperately wanted to avoid if at all possible.

"What's that smell?"

_Shit._

"Mattie, you need to go ahead with Nanuq, alright? I'll meet you at the house."

"Al, wha-" Was the only thing he heard as he ran into the woods, making as much noise as he could get away with while searching for the creature to try and head it off. His sense of smell was nowhere near as good as Nanuq's, sure, but it was better than the average human's, so with a bit of effort it should be no trouble convincing it to come after him instead of his much more vulnerable brother.

A scream pierced through the woods, instantly catching his attention. America cursed, instantly changing his direction and throwing caution to the wind. It didn't take long to find his brother, trying to back away from the hideous thing trying to get to him. Nanuq stood between the two, at his full size and growling deep enough to scare off any normal creature.

But not the wendigo. Never the wendigo. It swiped at the bear, who responded in kind.

Building up electricity in his clenched fist, he edged around, looking for the perfect angle to blindside the beast. When he found it, he took just a moment to make sure the bear wasn't in the way, then ran forward.

It noticed him in the second before his fist impacted, turning to snarl at him before a ten million volt burst of energy coursed through it from the point of impact, sending it reeling several feet.

"Hey, ugly, why don't you try eating something that can fight back?"

America knew he shouldn't be doing all this in front of his twin, but desperate times called for desperate measures, and a secret barely revealed was nothing compared to Canada's life.

"Nanuq, can you get Matt back to the wards? I'll hold this guy off for you."

"Alright."

"Matt, get onto Nanuq and don't let go until you're at the house. Don't let anyone or anything else in until I get there and Nanuq say's it's okay, got it? No matter what you hear, do not come outside or even open a door or window."

"Alfred?"

He turned away from the creature just getting back to its feet, a light, reassuring smile on his face. "I'll explain everything later. Just go. Hurry!"

The Canadian hesitated, before nodding and clambering onto the bear's back. The two were off, disappearing down the trail and well away from the beast. Good.

America turned back to the wendigo, who looked distinctly displeased with losing its meal. It snarled at him, but didn't advance, recognizing him for what he was even without the feathers.

"You shouldn't be here. I drove all of you north before, I can do it again. Do you really want to test me?"

It snarled at him again, and in response his arms lit up with lightning.

~0~0~

Almost an hour later, America stumbled up to the back door of his brother's house, one hand pressing down against the open wound on the other arm. The creature had taking a bit more convincing than he'd liked to go away, and had resulted in a brief, messy confrontation before the beast limped off.

Falling against the steps, he took a deep breath to settle his nerves, shutting his eyes as his head rested against the wood.

At the least he'd have to stay over overnight. Couldn't let the thing try doubling back and hurting anyone after all. Damn, it was gonna be not fun explaining all this to his brother.

The door opened, his brother's concerned voice making him smile lightly, even as he was picked up and carried inside, settling into the couch while Canada took a cloth to the open wounds on his body.

"What the hell were you thinking going up against something like that? Nanuq only told me a bit about those things and even I could tell facing off against one of them is stupid! I thought- I thought I lost you."

America's eyes opened a crack to see the tears on his brother's face, moving to wipe them away. "I didn't mean to scare you, Mattie. I just couldn't stand by and let that thing get to you while I could do something about it."

Canada abandoned the towel in favor of holding his twin tight, face pressed into the southern Nation's neck. America returned the hug, murmuring another soft apology to his brother.

~0~0~~0~0~

Alfred was scared.

It'd taken Matthew a bit to pick up on it, but suddenly it made all the previous conversations related to The Incident a lot clearer. Whatever his brother was hiding, he was scared of sharing it.

But why? What could be so frightening that it scared the same person who fought off a wendigo without fear? He really didn't want to contemplate the answer. With this thought in mind, he resolved to drop the subject, perhaps for good, the next time he saw his brother.

However, it seemed his brother had other things in mind.

"Swear you won't say a word to anyone."

"Alfred, what are you-"

"Mattie, please."

"Alright, I swear. What's going on-"

"Follow me and don't say anything. I promised I'd explain, and I'm going to, but it's easier to show than explain."

Matthew nodded, wide eyed, as his brother grabbed his wrist and started pulling him along, barely keeping his strength below the point that would actually hurt, but certainly not light enough to keep Matthew from wincing. They moved through the old mansion, following a twisting path that Alfred obviously knew well but had the Canadian brother completely lost.

They came to a sudden stop before an almost innocuous wall that looked no different from any of the others in the halls they'd gone through. Alfred pressed at a certain point, causing the wall to rotate and show a hidden pathway, and pulled Matthew through, shutting the wall behind them and leaving them with only the dimmest light to go by. The southern twin seemed unphased by it, instead continuing along as only one who'd long ago memorized the way could.

They soon emerged into a larger room, which if the faint breeze was anything to go by was connected to the outside somehow - probably another hidden entrance, knowing Alfred.

The only object in the room wasn't visible at first, being half-hidden in the shadows; it took Alfred dropping his wrist to go straight to it that even allowed him to pick out the vague shape of a bird on the wall before the American brother had pulled it down, turning to Matthew and gesturing for him to follow again.

Rubbing at his wrists, he stayed close to Alfred while they made their way through another short tunnel, the breeze growing stronger as they went. Matthew apologized out of habit when he bumped into his brother, only to realize that they'd come to the end; Alfred didn't seem to notice, setting whatever was in his arms down on the small table next to them before pushing at the wall and causing it to swing out into a small clearing in the woods.

The feathery object in his brother's arms was easier to study now, although Matthew had little time for that before it was gathered back up, Alfred walking out into the clearing and forcing the northern brother to follow before the door shut on him.

When he saw his brother unfold the object, he opened his mouth to ask what was going on, but closed it after remembering his promise. He didn't like the fact that his brother hadn't said a word since then, but there obviously was a reason, right?

It was strange, though, the casualness with which Alfred threw the feathery cloak over his shoulders, along with how easily they seemed to settle on him. Matthew glimpsed, briefly, an apologetic smile on his twin's face before he turned away, pulling the lifelike head of the cloak over his own and…

Well, Matthew couldn't really describe what happened next. One second it was his brother under the cloak, and the next it… wasn't. It moved wrong, and Matthew took a step back before realizing Alfred wouldn't deliberately put him in danger.

...hopefully...

It turned to him, larger than any bird had a right to be, and oh was he reminded of the Incident again, because whatever this was was far older than he could comprehend-

It stepped forward, head lowered to his height and tilted in a questioning manner, and only now could he actually look into its eyes, such a familiar shade of blue that he hadn't realized he'd spoken until it moved back, feathers ruffling as if it was trying to seem… smaller? No, it was getting smaller, and suddenly it wasn't it anymore, but Alfred.

"Mattie…"

Matthew, to his credit, was trying to understand, but this was something outside his comfort zone. People couldn't just- turn into giant birds, and even if they could, it wouldn't be Alfred of all people doing so - he was the most vocal about his disbelief in magic of anyone he'd met.

Hands came to rest on his shoulders, startling him out of his circular train of thought and forcing him to actually look at his brother. There was a swirl of emotions playing through Alfred's eyes, the greatest of which was a plea for acceptance, of understanding-

Matthew swallowed. "What… what was that?"

A sigh. "It's a part of me I didn't want to show anyone. I- it's who I was, who I  _am_." One of his hands lifted to rub at his face. "Ugh, I knew I should have explained first, but I had no idea what to say or if you would even believe me-"

"Why didn't you say something before now?"

"And what was I supposed to say? 'Oh Mattie, by the way, I'm the reborn spirit of the ancient thunderbird that the natives worshipped a lot time ago.' You would have thought I was nuts."

"I-" Matthew found he couldn't argue, as it still sounded crazy, even with what he'd just seen. "Why keep it secret for so long, though?"

"Besides the whole sounding crazy thing? I just… I didn't even know until after the Civil War, and I was just so happy to know that I wasn't crazy for dreaming about flying my whole life that I didn't even think to tell at first, and then, well… I just didn't want to. I didn't want someone to think I was crazy, or worse, believe me and try to take it away from me to use for themselves."

Any of Matthew's arguments were lost when Alfred locked eyes with him again, showcasing the same fear as before - that Matthew would in fact do just that.

What scared Matthew most was that a part of him wanted to run and tell the others, a part of him that was still the little colony who clang tight to the coattails of Arthur for fear of being left behind again. He closed his eyes, breathed deeply, and stepped forward to hug his brother tightly.

There was a hesitant pause before the hug was returned, Alfred's face pressed into his shoulders. Matthew was close enough now to smell the light waft of ozone and earth and other things he couldn't name. Whatever came next, one thing was clear-

Alfred was Alfred, face or form be damned.

~0~0~~0~0~~0~0~

HetaLoops:

America frowned, eyes darting across the night sky, looking for something that should have been there but wasn't. This was usually the night Tony showed up for the first time, as even the strangest loops usually didn't mess with things far past the edge of the solar system.

But now his alien friend was later than the American could ever remember him being, and even a fast mental sweep of the surrounding light-year of space turned up nothing. It was confusing, and more than a bit worrying. Had something happened to him on the way here? He hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary about this loop yet, but maybe it was just taking its time.

…Maybe he'd show up tomorrow night, or so the Nation hoped, anyways.

He turned to go back into his house, and yelped at the gleaming set of sharp teeth inches from his face.

"Hi!" The troll girl greeted cheerfully, ignoring the scare she'd put into him. "I Woke up heading this way so I decided I might as well drop by!"

"Aradia?" He asked, finally recognizing the troll he'd made friends with over the past few joint loops she'd been Awake. "Wait, are you replacing Tony this loop?"

"I think so? Oh, and I was hoping to meet him, too…"

"It's cool, maybe next time." Alfred paused, then gave a grin worthy of his friend's own. "Say, how'd you like to mess with my friends for the loop?"

Her grin would have scared anyone else, but America was too used to them to get freaked out. "I like the way you think!"

~0~0~

"America, can you open the door? I have to talk to you!"

"Gimme a second, I'm making lunch!" He called back, giving the pot one last stir before putting the lid back on, wiping his hands on his pants as he made his way to the door to let his brother in. "Sorry Canada, wasn't expecting you to drop by today, so the place is sorta a mess."

"It's fine." The Canadian replied instantly, before looking around. "Can we talk?"

"Aren't we talking now?" America laughed lightly. "We can talk over lunch, alright? Just gimme a bit to finish cooking."

"Alright. Do you mind if I wait in the living room?"

"Sure." He watched the other walk into the room, only remembering after a second that someone else was in there sleeping at the moment. "Oh, and don't wake up-"

There was a shriek.

"-never mind."

Canada ran out from the room, skidding behind America and grasping tight to his shirt. From his angle, he could just make out a still-tired Aradia glaring unamused in their direction.

" _Why is there a demon on your couch-_ _"_

America sighed. "First off, she's an alien, not a demon. Second, she's living with me for now while she's studying our cultures and stuff."

"But- but the horns, and the skin, and the teeth, and the eyes-"

"Alien. Not demon. Trust me, no self-respecting demon would have butterfly wings."

"…what?"

Even though she was woken up, Aradia was more than happy to eat lunch with the two, chatting with Alfred between bites while Canada watched on more than a bit warily. Eventually through attrition they managed to get him to chat a little bit, although he never relaxed for the duration of the much-shortened visit.

"You know, I think that was the fastest I've ever managed to get him to leave after saying I'm not getting involved in Europe. Nice job." America noted idly after his brother was out the door.

She just giggled behind a hand, eyes twinkling.

~0~0~

"America, we're going to need more supplies sent soon- bloody hell!"

Both America and Aradia looked up from their intense Go Fish game, the former waving at the Brit who had nearly suffered a heart attack. "Whatcha need – food, ammo, medical supplies?"

"You- what the hell is that?"

"My whale, duh."

Said whale, several card floating in front of him, crooned in greeting.

"I meant the girl!"

America glanced to his friend. "Oh, this is Aradia. Aradia, this is England."

"Hi!" She greeted, smiling cheerfully.

England paled.

~0~0~

Aradia smiled and waved.

President Kennedy stared.

America facepalmed.

All in all, it was a better introduction than most.

~0~0~

America and Canada peeked into the living room, which had been cleared for the spontaneous rockout Aradia and Belarus were having.

"I don't think introducing those two was your best idea."

"Pssh, what's the worst that could happen?"

~0~0~

Canada was giving his brother the  _look._

America laughed nervously, ignoring the continuing news reel of the two girls matched in identical Indiana Jones outfits in a stolen jeep with the government on their tails, 'liberated' national secrets in the back seat.

~0~0~

President Obama was silent a long moment.

"I'm guessing that old news reel wasn't a gag then."

Aradia looked up at the ceiling, while America chuckled nervously.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And yet more! Even when I'm not being productive I'm being productive. Imagine that.


	5. Trust Issues

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just an oddball fantasy AU I thought up, with a Dragon!Alfred, Healer!Matt, and basically the interactions between them as Alfred heals from wounds inflicted by a sword-happy knight.
> 
> Posted May 1 2013

Thump. Thump. Thump. Thu- SNAP!

Alfred flinched, thinking for a second that the sound was that obsessive knight having finally tracked him down to finish him off despite the fact that he'd left the other bleeding out on the ground. Yes, he'd heard of the dragon attack on a village near his caverns, but he'd dismissed it as rumor since he hadn't seen or heard any other dragons in the area for quite a while. But apparently the king had thought otherwise, sending a knight to deal with the 'monster' -

\- thus why he was now limping through the forest, his right wing badly mangled and right side in general covered with bleeding wounds from that knight's blade.

Alfred could tell he was on his last legs; he was already feeling lightheaded from bloodloss as it was and all this movement wasn't helping. But he had to put distance between himself and any humans or else...

He imagined his head on a pike on display, his scales skinned off him for armor and jewelry, and his horns carved into that damned king's wine goblets. The dragon shook his head to clear away the thoughts and pressed on into the darkening woods.

~0~0~

Matthew, aged a mere 19 years, was for the most part grateful for his life. He'd been raised up by his mother and father, the oldest of three siblings in their small home. From a young age he'd taken after his father, practicing the healing arts and learning how all the various herbs and plants that grew around them worked together to alleviate numerous symptoms that people from the nearby villages had. Even when their mother died when he was six to an accident, his father still made sure all of his children were well cared for.

But Matthew could tell the extra work strained him; the bags under his eyes and the sometimes too-cheerful expression he wore to reassure the younger two were the most obvious to him. So when he reached of age at seventeen and officially finished his training, he set off with a tearful goodbye to act as healer for a group of villages about two week's travel away on foot.

He'd quickly settled in, making himself known to the locals while keeping to himself in the cottage in the woods. It was close enough that people could get to him easily, but far enough so he could enjoy the peace and quiet. He was a rather shy person – although any of his patients could easily admit to his stubborn streak when he told them off for going against his orders – and generally preferred being on his own.

...it tended to get lonely, though.

Needless to say, he was surprised when he stumbled across a dragon while on his usual herb hunting rounds. He'd expected an attack at first, until he realized the beast was actually unconscious, looking very much like he'd just... collapsed there.

Strange – dragons were mountain creatures, and this place was far from the closest of them.

Matthew quietly stepped around, keeping an eye on its head just in case it woke up, until he came to the other side and sucked in breath. The wing itself looked horribly damaged, and the wounds across the other's flank were coated with dried blood. Without thinking his healer's training kicked in, stepping forward to examine the wounds.

Had it gotten these in a fight with another dragon? No, the cuts were too clean, and didn't come in the – he checked one of the dragon's front feet – set of four he'd expect from that. A gentle hand ran just over one of the larger cuts, idly noting that the dragon was still alive if the shallow rise and fall of its chest meant anything. No, this was a blade wound. Possibly from a knight or vigilante?

There was movement to his side. Matthew glanced over to see the dragon lifting its head to stare at him, eyes blinking slowly. It seemed startled to see him, but that failed to last long, shifting over to rage as it screeched at him. Without thinking he ran, ducking the swing of its tail and not stopping to look back until he was in the clearing around his house.

Breath heaving, he shut his eyes, trying to slow the rapid heartbeats against his chest. That had been too close – he should have known better that to linger around a known man-killer while it was still alive.

He glanced back. In his panic, he'd flung his bag away from himself. The herbs in that bag were a day's worth of scavenging, and he really didn't want to have to do it again... not to mention he didn't have another bag, and he really didn't feel like having to explain how he'd lost the last one...

Matthew bit his lip. He could probably dart in quickly and grab the bag before the dragon noticed him, or if he were lucky the beast would be well away from the area and he wouldn't have to worry about it.

...yeah, sure.

Carefully retracing his flight through the underbrush, he came back to the clearing to see that the dragon was, unfortunately, still there. It hadn't noticed him yet, which gave him a chance to spy the bag just a few feet into the clearing. He glanced back to the dragon just in time to see it shakily get to its feet, only to collapse again. Several of the wounds had apparently reopened, and even though it was a beast Matthew could clearly see it was in pain.

...No! He only came back for his bag! It didn't matter if he was starting to feel sorry for the dragon! It was a threat to people as long as it was alive! It would be better if it... if it...

Matthew looked back at it again, its chest heaving as it struggled just to get up.

...damn it.

~0~0~

Alfred felt himself wavering again, and only stopped his collapse through sheer willpower. He knew he couldn't get too far in his condition, but he didn't want to wait around for that human to come back with others to finish him off.

Finally, after much too long, he had what could vaguely be called balance, even though all his muscles were screaming at him. Carefully he took a step forward, taking a moment to keep his body from swaying. He could do this – he'd made it this far, hadn't he?

There was noise in the underbrush. Shit, he'd wasted too much time! Since he couldn't run, it looked like he'd have to fight... his body twinged. Okay, maybe he'd have to bluff it.

But instead of the group of humans, the one from before appeared alone, stepping out slowly and keeping his eyes on him. Eyes narrowed, Alfred issued a warning growl, wondering what he wanted. Maybe he'd realized Alfred was in no condition to fight and decided to finish him off himself?

But there was no blade in the hands held out before the human, just a bag Alfred hadn't noticed until then over his shoulder. Still, it was better to be cautious. He growled again when the other stepped towards him, halting his progress again.

"Look, I'm not going to hurt you, alright? I'm a healer. I just want to put some medicine on those wounds and then I'll go..."

 _'Yeah right,'_  Alfred snorted, wondering why the human thought he would buy that story. Human healers didn't help dragons, they helped other humans.

The 'healer' steeped forward again, and Alfred stepped back, mustering the most menacing growl-hiss he could. He'd scared plenty of others off with it before -

"Stop that!" The human snapped at him, making him stop and blink in surprise. "I am trying to help you, and you trying to be all menacing and moving around isn't helping you or your wounds! Just- stop being stubborn and let me help!"

Still trying to process the fact that the healer hadn't reacted as expected, he stayed still and allowed him to approach, watching distrustfully as the human ruffled through his bag, pulling out a cloth, a smaller bag, and a sealed container.

Putting the latter to the side, the healer opened the smaller bag and poured what seemed to be water onto the cloth, letting it soak in before sealing the bag and putting it to the side. He then proceeded to carefully work over the wounds with the cloth, apparently cleaning them out. Alfred whined a bit, not enjoying the sting but a bit nervous to make the other snap at him again.

Once the cleaning was done – and man that was a lot of dried blood – the healer tossed the cloth to the side and grabbed the container, opening it and allowing the scent of herbs to assail his nose. If he thought the sting from the cloth had been bad, the one from the substance being applied was much worse. He growled quietly to voice his displeasure, matching the look sent his way with one of his own.

"Baby," He heard the human mutter, and Alfred bared his teeth lightly. However, the human was done, stepping back and allowing the dragon to curl himself into a slightly more defensive position.

"I'm going to leave now, but I'll be back tomorrow to check those again. If I find you trying to move too much I won't hesitate to smack you, even if you are a dragon, because right now you're my patient, got it?" The human gave him a firm look, one that Alfred responded to blankly. Come back? Was he crazy? And threatening him, no less.

...he had to admit though, he was interesting. Most humans either ran from him or tried to kill him. One that tried to boss him around was... different.

Maybe he'd stay a bit. Just until he was strong enough to leave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> …shut up, I want Dragon Alfred, and I want AmeCan friendship fluff. YOU WILL NOT DENY ME THIS!
> 
> But yeah, I got this idea. Basically Dragon!Al is injured, and Healer!Matt nurses him back to health.
> 
> Issues: Al can't speak human, and both are nervous about trusting each other at first.
> 
> There are some misunderstandings along the way, and there will be setbacks. Eventually they come to learn about each other and form a lasting friendship.
> 
> More backstory for both in future installments. For now, enjoy.


	6. Support

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So a while ago a friend and I somehow ended up discussing Matthew coming out to Alfred about being a girl, and am only now getting around to it, whoops. We imagined Alfred would be a supportive, if uninformed at first, bro.
> 
> So yeah, MTF!Matthew and bro!Alfred fluff.
> 
> Might write more in the future IDK
> 
> Posted Oct 19 2013

Matthew took deep breaths, trying to work up the confidence to push open her brother's door. She'd been debating whether to talk to her brother about her… issue… for a while now, as being twins made Alfred the natural first choice to talk about something as important as this.

It also made it all the more terrifying, as losing that connection would hurt more than any other rejection, even from their parents.

Her hand rose to the handle, almost pressing down before pulling it away. It wouldn't hurt to put it off for one more day, right?

"Matt? You okay?"

Matthew twirled, heart pumping as Alfred watched her, a bag of chips in one hand. "Uh, hey Al, it's nothing really-"

"You were staring at my door like it was gonna eat you. C'mon, we can talk on my bed."

Swallowing lightly, she followed her brother in, sitting gingerly on the edge while Al sprawled across it, stuffing several chips in his mouth at once. Matthew tried to find the words she had run over thousands of times in her head, but they had all seemed to flee when actually faced with her brother, and it was all she could do to not flee to her own room and pretend she had never wanted to talk.

A hand settled on her own twisting ones, startling her out of her thoughts. Her eyes rose to lock with her brother's, which were filled with concern.

"Mattie? What's wrong?"

"I…" Matthew swallowed. "It's stupid."

"Whatever it is, you can tell me. I promise I won't judge you for it."

Matthew looked down at her hands, then back up at her brother. She inhaled. Shut her eyes.

"I'm a girl."

"…what?"

Matthew bit her lip. "I'm a girl. I know not physically, but up here, in my head, I'm a girl."

"So… you think you're a girl?"

"No! I…" Matthew sighed, opening her eyes. "Imagine you woke up tomorrow and you were in a girl's body. Would you think you're a girl or a boy?"

Alfred blinked. "I'd still be a guy, of cou-  _oh_." His eyes widened in understanding. "So you're… in the wrong body?"

Matthew smiled a bit. "Pretty much. I mean, I looked it up and there are- procedures, that can fix that, but… they're really expensive, and take a long time to take effect, and I'm not even sure if I should go through with it."

Alfred seemed to think this over, looking down to his hands before looking back up to her. "…and this is really a thing? You aren't just messing with me?"

She nodded, wringing her hands together again. "I know it sounds weird, and I can understand if you don't believe me…"

He was quiet again for another long moment, glancing down to her hands and back up to her face, which was silently pleading for him to understand. Finally, he gave her a small smile. "It's gonna be weird having a sister. Does that mean I can't talk to you about girls anymore?"

She gave a slightly watery laugh, the relief flowing through her easing a weight she'd carried for years. "Don't worry, I still like girls. You'll just have to deal with one living next door to you too."

Matthew grabbed her brother in a tight hug, smiling as he hugged her back, thankful that at least she had her most important person with her.

~0~0~0~0~

"What about Alice?"

The two were in front of Alfred's computer, browsing through sites for girl names with little success so far. Matthew hadn't really stopped to think of a new name for herself, more focused on her worries about how her family would react.

Matthew's nose scrunched. "It sounds too close to yours, and we've already gotten mixed up enough as it is."

"That probably won't happen as much once your hair grows out…" Alfred scanned further down the list, sighing at the lack of names that really… stood out.

No wonder new parents had such a hard time picking names for their kids if this was the sort of effort they went through to find the right one!

"How about Matilda? I could still call you Mattie that way."

"That sounds like an old lady's name." Matthew sighed. "We're never gonna find something at this rate."

"Hey, it's only been like a week. We'll find something you like soon." Alfred stretched, pushing himself away from the computer desk and rubbing his eyes. "How about we go out and get something to eat? I think if I stare at the screen any longer my eyes are gonna fall out."

Matthew laughed. "Alright, but it's your turn to pay for food."

"Aw, man, I was hoping you forgot that!"

The two chatted innocuously as they made their way down the road into town, the warm spring sun shining down and lifting their moods somewhat. Their first stop was the small diner, the two getting their usual sandwiches and fries. After fighting over the last of the latter they left and headed further in, allowing themselves a break from their respective worries.

Alfred spied the bookstore out of the corner of his eye, and was able to convince his sister with minimal effort to join him inside. It was a small, old place, but the two found that there was almost always something to be found somewhere on the shelves. Matthew as always was drawn towards the fantasy section, while Alfred disappeared towards the back where the mystery novels could be found.

After a few moments to determine that this time around there wasn't anything of note, she started wandering towards the back, letting her gaze pass over the books. One in particular caught her eye in the children's section, and she pulled out the worn book with a small smile.

The familiar little girl with the red hair and yellow hat beamed up, reminding her of when papa would read these to her and her brother as children. Matthew had always loved the books dearly, and had wished she could go to Paris-

"Hey, whatcha have there?" Alfred asked over her shoulder, making her jump slightly. Her brother's eyes lit in recognition after seeing the page she had turned to. "I remember those! Weren't those the ones you kept begging papa to read every night?"

Matthew blushed. "They were good stories…"

"Nah, it's cool, it's kinda funny looking back on it. You swore you wanted to go on adventures just like Madeline when you got older."

Alfred said something else, but Matthew had stopped paying attention, mind lingering on that one word, rolling it over and over in her mind. "Madeline…"

"What?" Alfred blinked, halting in mid-sentence to turn to his sister.

She smiled, holding the book close. "I think… I'll go with Madeline."

Once it registered with Alfred, he laughed softly, running a hand through his hair. "I think I can get used to calling you that. Maddie's close enough to Mattie, right?"

Madeline laughed, punching her brother in the shoulder. "Is that all you're worried about?"

Alfred shook his head with a smile. "Nah, I'm just glad it's one less thing to worry about. How about we get some ice cream to celebrate, Mattie - ack, Maddie! Sorry."

She couldn't hold back her laughter, Alfred joining her after a moment. As annoying as her brother could be sometimes, she wouldn't trade him for the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, trans!Matthew and supportive!Alfred. My friends seemed to like it, so... yeah.


	7. The Witch's Son

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Based off of ashynarr.tumblr.com/post/63329184891/viria-oncel erfuckingmagic-beastlyart
> 
> Or, as my notes on there mention: # i can see this au already with al as the son and elizabeth as the witch # yeeeeee and they moved to america in colonial days because fewer people but that meant al picked up voodoo # which elizabeth scoffs at and calls fake magic but # he's good with all the spirits of the land and just # then mattie comes along and bonding and yeeee
> 
> Posted Oct 10 2013

Alfred was born, as all witches' children were, on the night of a full moon. His mother, Elizabeth, greeted him not with the soft coos of new mothers, but with the whispered words of their old heritage, encouraging that trickle of fey blood within them that never diluted over the generations. Not even an hour passed since his birth before his first taste of magic, for his mother was never one to let herself be weakened by something as simple as childbirth.

Growing up proved a challenge, as the magic of the Old World Elizabeth had left behind upon learning of her pregnancy did not come easily to her son, despite his constant practice. She suspected, but never stated, that his magic was simply not like hers. Being a prideful woman, she refused to let this stop her from training him in all the old ways, harsh reprimands and soft encouragements alike leading him along.

She should have suspected when his talents started heavily leaning towards potion making, but she dismissed it as the usual variances of talent, despite her line having never been good with the skill. He quickly reached her level, then quietly surpassed her, although neither would dare ever utter the knowledge aloud.

Alfred started carving charms at eight. Elizabeth first caught him at thirteen, by which point he already could perfectly create dozens of different sorts of charms for a wide variety of needs. She called them fake magics, throwing them out and burning the half-completed ones to dust before his eyes.

The shouting match that resulted lasted half the day, and caused Alfred to storm off for weeks before returning exhausted but with several rare herbs he swore he'd been pointed to by local spirits. Several of them even turned out to be better then the plants they'd been carefully cultivating and preserving for years.

Afterwords there was always a sort of tension between them, one that neither was willing to break. Alfred still practiced his mother's magics dutifully, if quietly and sometimes sullenly, and Elizabeth pretended not to notice the charms hidden away in drawers or the times he would whisper to beings she could only half-see.

When he was seventeen, he met Matthew for the first time, not realizing what the simple meeting would lead to.

~0~0~

Matthew was the son of a business man in the nearby town, and a face that until their meeting he'd only glimpsed out of the corner of his eye while on his run for the supplies he and his mother could not get for themselves another way. Alfred knew better than to draw attention to himself, knowing only bad things could happen if he were to be found out by the locals.

However, avoiding attention was difficult when you were barreled into straight on, and Alfred was no exception, sent sprawling to the ground along with the unfortunate person to run into him.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention to where I was running-" The other young man apologized, running his head while he picked himself up.

"It's alright, no harm done." Alfred told him, picking himself up as well and dusting himself off before grabbing the strewn supplies he'd been carrying.

"I'd offer to make it up to you, but I'm in a bit of a hurry..."

"I'll be fine, just don't run into anyone else, alright?"

"Thank you." Alfred was flashed a small smile that made his stomach turn, before the young man took off down the street again, Alfred's gaze following after.

Shaking his head once he realized what he was doing, he turned to make his way back home only to stop upon seeing a piece of paper on the ground that hadn't been there before. Perhaps the other person had dropped it without realizing it? If so he'd have to return it, lest it be something important. A quick glance at the paper, however, made him pause.

It seemed to be an instruction list, which included the consumption of several compounds he knew were toxic or inert. What was the person who wrote this thinking? Anyone who followed this would be dead within a month!

"Oh no, oh no, where is it-" The familiar voice sounded behind him, even more panicked that before. Alfred turned to him as the other approached, the other's deep blue eyes filling with relief on seeing the scrap of paper in his hand. "You found it! I don't know what I'd do if I lost that."

"What's it for?" Alfred asked as he handed the paper over. "If it's not prying, I mean."

"My father's fallen ill. The doctor gave me these instructions to help him recover, so they're very important."

Alfred knew, had been told all his life, not to draw attention to himself by calling out the blubbering idiots that most doctors were, even if he knew more about healing than they could even hope to. But the knowledge that that piece of paper would kill a person and make the person in front of him cry was enough to override that ingrained caution.

"If they're supposed to help, then why are half the things on here toxic?"

The other stared at him. "What?"

Alfred pointed to several of the listed items. "These things here will kill someone if they consume too much of it, and the rest of them can't cure a thing."

"How would you know that?"

The accusatory look was met with an exasperated one. "I got sick a lot as a kid, and my mother couldn't afford a doctor, so she had to take care of me herself. She learned a lot about how the local plants work, and taught me in case she got ill herself. What's ailing your father?"

"...a heavy fever and harsh coughing."

Alfred hummed. "There's two plants that you'll need. The black, ripe berries off the elderberry bushes, pulped and boiled, will make the cough go away if he drinks a bowl every morning and evening, and grinding up feverfew leaves to add to it will break the fever."

"How do I know I can trust you? Everyone knows elderberries are witch plants."

"You don't."

The young man gave him a long look. "...I'll consider what you said." Then he turned and left, disappearing down the street.

Alfred watched him go, quietly wishing the man well, before turning and heading home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd considered making this AmeCanish, but really I just don't feel it quite fits in with the rest of the plot. Perhaps a friendship between them, but I doubt there'd be much in the way of romance. Still, a fun AU that I might one day actually do something with.


	8. Random Drabbles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just some more random drabbles from tumblr.
> 
> Posted Nov 3 2013

The camera whirled to life as it reached its intended depth of just about one hundred thirty meters below the surface. There was no light other than that brought with the camera, providing a start contrast to the otherwise pitch black surroundings.

Alfred, currently in charge of the controls and sitting far above in the boat his team was on for the project, started testing the motors by spinning the vehicle in a slow circle, scanning for anything in the surrounding waters. After a full loop with nothing he sighed, settling in for a long wait until something chose to swim by.

A half-hour in his friend Chelles came in with two cups of coffee, settling into the seat beside him and peering at the screen while handing one to him. "Anything yet?" She asked, sipping at her drink.

"Nope, but it's only been a half-hour. I'll only get worried if something doesn't show up after two-"

"What was that?"

Alfred twirled back to the screen, seeing nothing. "What'd you see?"

"I don't know, I just saw something move on the edge of the light-"

Something glinted as it swept past, its outline barely distinguishable. After a moment with neither daring to breathe it came into view again, stopping in the dim light.

"Are you seeing this...?" Alfred asked, eyes glued to the screen.

"Only if you are." She replied, unable to believe what they were seeing.

The hair framing the creature's face spread out in all direction, beautiful and frightening. Its eyes were locked onto the camera, or perhaps the light on it, seeming to look past them straight to the people watching through it. It suddenly made a silent shriek, jaw open to reveal sharp teeth as it dashed in at the camera, the image sputtering out and going dead almost as soon as the creature reached it.

The two sat there in silence, staring at the grainy screen for what felt like hours. Only their other teammate, Antonio, coming in to check on them startled them out of it.

~0~0~0~0~0~

Breathe in, hold, breathe out. Breathe in, hold, breathe out. Repeat again and again.

Alfred had found, through trial and error, that focusing on breathing kept him from fully succumbing to the pain of the transformation and thus to the instincts that came with it. He knew he wasn't in control, not really, but  _it_  wasn't either.

And as long as  _it_  wasn't in control, he was safe. Everyone was safe.

His ears perked, attention already on the door when it opened, the scent of warm raw meat not enough to block the nervous scent wafting from his packmate- no, brother.

With a hesitant smile, Matthew set the dish down, backing away as Alfred all but leapt on it and tore it apart, the food setting warmly in his stomach and making  _it_  even weaker.

Only when the plate was cleaned did Matthew approach again, knowing only now was he safe from fangs tonight. Slender warms wrapped around a furry neck, Matthew burying his face into the thick fur. Murmured apologies reached Alfred's ears, and he whined softly, not understanding now but providing what comfort he could.

In the morning, it would be the other way around, Alfred clinging tight to his brother while apologizing for putting everyone in danger every month.

Although he never said it, Alfred felt it ironic that he'd been cursed for saving someone's life.

Some hero he was now.

~0~0~0~0~0~

Canon

The first half-hour of the meeting was passed by Alfred and Matthew tossing paper airplanes back and forth whenever Ludwig's back was turned, only to stop with innocent expressions each time the German turned to see what was causing all the giggling around the room. Several planes had strayed to other targets, who upon opening them found doodles of various nations or their bosses in ridiculous outfits, only inspiring more amusement up until the point where one accidentally hit Ludwig in the back of the head.

After a half-hour break in the meeting to lecture the two for disrupting the meeting, and another hour break for lunch, everything seemed set for a boring afternoon… until the twins burst in, several dozen paper swords between them, inviting everyone into their impromptu battle on the meeting room table.

(Naturally, Arthur won, gloating quietly even as Ludwig lectured all of them for unprofessionalism).

~0~0~0~0~0~

HetaStuck AU (Purple-blood!Alfred and Olive-blood!Mattie)

Mattie sighed as Alfred continued on his rant about how 'that jade-blooded nubsucker' wasn't nearly good enough for his moirail, only stopping the other when he actually started to look murderous by wrapping his much warmer arms around the purple-blooded troll and soothing him out of his rage. Only when Alfred finally relented by slumping into a nearby chair did Mattie pull away, settling into his lap and running his hand through his moirail's dark hair in the way he knew calmed the other down.

"I promise it's only a friendly trip to the movies, Alfie; there aren't any flushed feelings between me and Arthur, and you were the one who suggested I make friends near my blood color."

He resolutely ignored the grumbling from the other troll, well too used to his protectiveness to be too concerned about his plans actually being ruined.

~0~0~0~0~0~

Mermatthew AU (2)

His voice rang out quietly in the evening, weaving a song of pleasure and joy and drawing the pretty young man he'd seen before ever closer; the blue eyes were dimmed, lost in the music pulling him towards the water.

Matthew smiles, showing no teeth as the human steps into the cold water, drawing him deeper and deeper with sang promises of wonder.

Only with his drowning breaths did the spell on Alfred break, a moment of terror and confusion reflected in his eyes along with a set of sharp teeth as he was dragged into silence and darkness.

~0~0~0~0~0~

Deerboy AU

Matthew had been holed up in his room for most of the day, not even coming out to eat; when Alfred brought some granola bars up while checking in on the deerboy all he got was a muffled, cranky 'thanks' as he took them before the door was shut again.

Now that it was approaching dinner, Alfred felt it was about time to try again - after all, whatever was bothering Matt surely couldn't have lasted this long, right?

He opened the door quietly, question on his lips, only to go wide eyed and scream at the matching pair of gleaming white antlers laying on the floor, startling Matthew awake and alerting the rest of the house to the fact that the deerboy had just gone through his first shedding without thinking to alert anyone.

~0~0~0~0~0~

"…an eagle ceremony."

America nodded, grinning unabashedly. England's left eyebrow raised exactly a half a centimeter higher.

"And… how exactly does this… ceremony work?" Anyone who didn't know the Brit might believe he was interested, but spending even a moment around would quickly dissuade one of that idea.

"Well, first you get this huge flag - the bigger the better! And don't forget it has to have the right shades of patriotic red for the stripes or it won't work! Then you find an open field or high roof and wave it back and forth like you're flagging down a ship, and pretty soon an eagle comes flying and bam! Lifelong companion!"

"Of course." England stated in a tone that implied heavy amounts of sarcasm. "And why has no one ever seen these eagles?"

America laughed briefly, like he'd heard a joke. "Dude, it's not like we bring them everywhere with us - you Europeans always get so fussy over that type of thing in customs, and besides, it's not like we want to take our eagles away from their birthland!"

Instead of responding, England sighed. "I swear I don't know what went wrong with you… eagle ceremonies…"

America rolled his eyes. "Please, at least it's not Mattie and his dumb moose ceremony."

"…moose ceremony?"

From somewhere in the distance, a faint yell could be heard, sounding remarkably like "Fuck you, eh!" followed by a snorting moose.

Naturally, neither of them heard it.

~0~0~0~0~0~

Alfred and Anya blinked at the other Nations. Turned to look at each other with matching baffled expressions. Turned back to the faces of the expectant Nations who seemed to be convinced they had uncovered a scandalous secret.

"Me and… Anya." It gave the sense of a question despite being a statement.

Francis looked suitably smug; then again, he'd been the one to start 'suspecting' them first.

Alfred turned back to Anya again, at a complete loss. She rolled her eyes, gaze flickering back to the Nations before a mischievous light entered her eyes. She turned back to them, face completely innocent, and Alfred waited with baited breath to see what came next.

"That is such interesting news!" She smiled, clapping her hands together. "I did not realize I had been in a relationship with Alfred for the past few months. Did you?"

Alfred quickly hid his grin, realizing the game. For someone he used to hate, she was a great friend to match wits with. "First I've heard of it. Man, don't you just hate being left out of the loop like that?"

"Indeed," She replied. "Then again, I usually am the last person to learn about such things, due to my, ah, isolated position. What is your excuse for not saying something before now?"

His response was dry. "I was busy not realizing that we were passionately in love with each other. I blame pancakes."

"Ah, yes, the dread pancakes. They can confused even the most devoted of hearts." She placed a hand to her heart, lips twitching upwards from their otherwise solemn position.

"So, what do we do now that we've been enlightened to our relationship?"

Her hand moved to cover her mouth, which could no longer hide her amused smile. "Obviously, I must now kidnap you and take you to my house to have my wicked wicked way with you."

He tilted his head back slightly, frowning playfully. "Isn't that supposed to be the other way around?"

"Perhaps in America, but in Soviet Russia, woman kidnap you."

Alfred fought hard to keep a straight face. "You'd better ask Mattie first, though; you know how he gets when I disappear on him."

She gasped lightly. "Of course, how rude of me." She turned to the Canadian, who was trying and failing to hide his own amusement at the show. "Matvey, you would not mind terribly if I kidnapped your brother and had my wicked wicked way with him, would you?"

"As long as you have him back before noon tomorrow; we have a hockey match to go to." He paused, mostly for dramatic effect, before continuing. "Also, don't abuse him too much - I want him in one piece tomorrow night."

"Of course," Anya replied demurely. "I will be very gentle with him. Come along now, Fedya."

The two stood at the same time, Alfred obediently clasping his hands behind his back to Anya could 'escort' him out of the room. One could hear his voice fade as he walked away saying, "Just promise you aren't going to try and dress me up again…"

There was a long stretch of silence between the Nations, until Matthew finally couldn't take it anymore and burst into laughter, holding onto the table to keep himself from falling out of his chair. Really, he couldn't have thought of a better way to mock the others if he'd had a month; bless his brother and best friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yup, nothing too exciting to see here. Also, fun fact, apparently one of the more appropriate snarky Russian nicknames for Al is 'Fedya'.


	9. Kink Meme Prompts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~Prompt 1: Three things America learned from his adoptive brothers (Spain, France, England)  
> Anon would like to say that "anything goes", but she'd LOVE if it was Spain who taught young!America to ride.
> 
> Just for the record, you don't have to keep the relationship just "brotherly" if you know what I mean...
> 
> ~Prompt 2: mattie and alfred used to be neighbours/good friends when they were really young, like pre-school young. mattie and daddy francis move away but mattie and alfred become penpals. sometime during the high school years mattie moves back and alfred is really excited. but wait, who's that girl getting out of the car with daddy francis? where's mattie?
> 
> you know where this idea is going.
> 
> ~Prompt 3: Inspired by the tickling prompt a few pages back. And because I don't think this has been done before, which is super sad!
> 
> Someone (or multiple someones) finds out that Russia is ticklish and is extremely surprised by it.
> 
> Bonus points: After everything the person(s) doing the tickling thinks Russia is going to brutally attack them, but he doesn't.
> 
> [Posted Dec 5 2013]

~0~0~0~0~0~0~

Prompt 1

~0~0~0~0~0~0~

It was Antonio who taught him how to ride.

The first horse Alfred rode was a gentle creature, the oldest mare of the bunch the Spaniard had brought over to the new world. After a thorough lesson on how not to hurt the horse while riding her, Antonio led the dappled mare around the field while Alfred held on, going slowly so that the young colony could get used to balancing on her back.

The muscles moving under him as the horse steadily walked were fascinating, revealing a hidden strength and a much more active youth. The fur was soft to the touch, and the mane easy to hold onto even when using only a tiny fraction of his strength.

At the end of the ride, Antonio showed him how to scrub the horse down and water her so she didn't get sick, then allowed him to feed the mare an apple from the cupboards. Alfred was nervous at first, considering the size of the teeth, but instead of the heavy bite there was only the lightest brush of lips on his palm as she ate the apple.

Years later, after his Civil War all but torn him apart physically and mentally, Alfred would spend almost twenty years in the midwest, raising horses and allowing himself to recapture the feeling of ease and joy he'd had when riding horses as a child.

~0~0~

It was Arthur who taught him how to love.

Ever since that fateful meeting, the two were as close as could be. Whenever Arthur was able to get away from his duties both in the colonies and abroad, the two would spend time together, Alfred showing his older brother all the new and wonderful things from his land, and Arthur weaving tales of his adventures across the face of the Earth.

When, inevitably, Arthur had to leave, Alfred would know heartache, spending lonely days waiting for his older brother to return. Sometimes it was years before he saw Arthur again, and Alfred would spend the days playing with the children of his people or simply watching them grow and live their short, fragile lives. Such people-watching always made part of him ache, although he didn't understand why, but both aches would go away the moment he saw happy green eyes smiling at him, always with a gift or three.

As he aged - not the slow growth of a Nation, but in leaps and spurts, like a human - Arthur taught him how to write, how to shoot a gun, how to be strong in the face of fear and sorrow. Neither of them realized how all three would be used against him one day.

~0~0~

It was Francis who taught him how to let go.

Alfred hadn't realized how hard it was to lose the one you loved when Matthew can come to join him and Arthur, with no explanation as to what had happened besides a trade agreement to end the fighting. He'd thought, like his twin, that Francis simply hadn't cared, more than happy to give up 'a useless expanse of ice' for the much warmer and more productive islands elsewhere.

He'd been oh so wrong. Francis had cared too much, so attached to the little boy that symbolized that snowy land that giving him up to his frenemy had all but torn his heart out, leaving the scar to fester. He could still see it in the Frenchman's eyes, the way it hardened briefly, a mix of anger and sorrow buried within.

On the nights where it was too much, though, Francis would come into his tent, as if aware of Alfred's mood, and simply sit with him, running a hand through his hair and humming the same song Arthur had sung to him as a small colony to scare the nightmares away. He understood that while America had cut ties with England, Alfred still hadn't cut ties with Arthur.

Perhaps it was that, more than anything, which gave him the strength to look his older brother in the eye when he declared himself a free Nation, even knowing how much it hurt them both.

~0~0~0~0~0~0~

Prompt 2

~0~0~0~0~0~0~

Alfred sat on the steps of the porch, feet tapping impatiently as he continued to wait. Sure, Mattie had told him to be waiting out here today, but hadn't given any more details than that, and it frustrated him to no end. What was worse was that Mattie knew it would frustrate him, which was why he'd asked in his latest letter, knowing Al also wouldn't refuse any of the scarce requests made of him.

Still, he'd been out here for almost a half hour now, and for the energetic teen that felt like a lifetime.

Actually, the last time he'd been waiting out here for such a long period of time was when he'd been only four, and Mattie had been moving away...

_Two little kids sat side by side on the wooden porch, watching as the car of the house next door was packed full of boxes. It was moving day for one of them, and both of them were completely upset. With their fathers being frenemies and neighbors, on top of them being born mere days apart, it was only natural that they'd ended up best of friend since before they could walk._

_Mattie, as the older by three days, was trying to be strong in front of Alfred, but it was difficult to hide the sorrow._

" _I wish you didn't have ta move…" Alfred told his friend sadly._

" _I know, but daddy really wanted this job…" Mattie replied._

" _...we'll still be friends forever, right?"_

" _Of course! And when I come back, we'll do lotsa fun things together!"_

" _But what if you don't?" Alfred bit on his lip._

" _I will, promise." Mattie held out a pinky finger, smiling._

" _...you'd better keep it, then. No take backs!" Alfred took the pinky finger in his own, now smiling as well. Mattie's father then called, and after a last hug goodbye the other ran back to the car, climbing inside. As the car pulled away, Alfred's dad came out to wave goodbye with him, Mattie waving back as they disappeared down the road and out of their lives._

Speaking of that time, it'd been around the same time of year as now that they'd said goodbye. The house next door had been sold again, though to whom he didn't know, and really didn't care. Mattie had been oddly vague in his last letter, just saying that there was a pleasant surprise coming for him…

but he had to wait outside on the porch for it, or it'd be ruined.

He sighed again, head coming to rest in hand. He didn't think Mattie was messing with him, but why did he have to wait for so long?

An unfamiliar car turned the corner, and with nothing better to do he followed its progress until, to his mild surprise, it pulled into Mattie's old driveway. Apparently the new neighbors had arrived today as well.

He heard the driver's door open, and for a moment couldn't see who stepped out. The back of the man's head seemed oddly familiar, until he turned and flashed that same friendly grin Al remembered from his childhood, barely any wrinkles to mark the passage of time. The second he recognized the face he shot up to his feet, disbelief quickly being replaced with the realization that if Francis was here, then so was…

"Mattie!" It took him less for a second to vault over the fence, all but barreling into the person stepping out of the passenger side door, laughing as he gave them the largest hug he could. "I can't believe you came back!"

A tinkle of laughter, decidedly not masculine, replied. "I promised, didn't I?"

Trying to balance his mental image of what Mattie should look like with that voice and failing, he pulled back, blinking with confusion as he actually took in his best friend. The face was still almost as soft as it had been as a kid, although it was slightly more angled now. His hair had grown even longer, now going down past his shoulders. Looking down, he realized after a moment he was looking at…

"Mattie…" He started slowly, his worldview quickly falling apart as certain things began to register in his head.

"Yes, Alfred?" Mattie replied, sounding more amused than anything.

"You're a…"

"Yes, Al, I'm a girl. I thought you knew that already?"

"He was always rather oblivious on picking up that sort of thing." Arthur replied from the porch, making Al jump as he realized he was being watched by both of their fathers. "You should hear about the time he tried asking a new exchange student from Europe out on a date, only to learn that the 'pretty new chick', in his words, was in fact a pretty lad."

Alfred flushed in embarrassment at that reminder, and even more so as Mattie laughed again, giving him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. God, this might almost end up his most embarrassing moment ever, even more so that the thing with Feliks...

~0~0~0~0~0~0~

Prompt 3

~0~0~0~0~0~0~

If it wouldn't have given him away early, Alfred would have snickered at the brilliance of his latest plan. It was all part of a game he and Matthew were playing against each other, a game they'd played since they were kids.

Over the years, they'd gotten good at hiding from each other, only to leap out and catch the other by surprise, tickling them into submission and winning the round. They'd long lost count of their respective scores, but that was no reason to drop the game, as it was simply too much fun to resist.

Lately, though, they'd had to step it up. Hence, why Alfred was now in a utility closet, waiting patiently for his brother to pass by so he could attack. He knew this was the only way back to the meeting hall that didn't involve an obscenely long detour around the building, and Matthew had no idea this was coming, so he had no reason to be cautious in passing by.

Seriously, how long did it take to use the bathroom? Alfred frowned, resisting the urge to tap his fingers against the wall in impatience. The meeting was going to start again any minute, and Matt wasn't one to be late-

There! Hurried footsteps down the hall. Matt must've gotten caught up with something else. Alfred grinned, cracking the door just enough to push it open easily but not enough for someone outside to notice it opening… hopefully, anyways…

The mentally traced the footsteps, waiting until he heard them just about to pass by before throwing the door open and leaping at the passing Nation.

"Hah! Bet you didn't expect that, bro!" He cackled, three seconds into mercilessly attacking his sides before realizing that the person under him wasn't his brother.

Still, he never knew Ivan was ticklish. He supposed there was always one last thing to learn before you got brained for a perceived assault on someone else's person. As Ivan caught his breath, still red from his choked laughter, Matthew ran up to them, taking in the scene passively before turning to Alfred.

"What the heck were you thinking?" He cried, clearly thinking along the same lines as his brother.

Alfred bristled. "I thought he was you! I spent fifteen minutes waiting for you to come back from the bathroom so I could catch you by surprise!"

Matthew groaned. "Alfred, I thought we agreed that the meetings were off limits!"

Oh. Right. "Uh… whoops?"

"Much as I am enjoying your spat, I would like to get up, Alfreka."

"Right, uh, really sorry about the mix-up dude." Alfred apologized, standing up and offering a helping hand to the Slavic Nation.

Ivan laughed again, surprisingly light for the large Nation, and pat him on the head. "It is fine. Just don't do it again, da?"

With that comment and a smile, he turned and left, leaving the twins by themselves in the hall. After a moment of staring after him, they turned to each other, silently coming to a mutual agreement to never bring the game anywhere near the meetings again if they could help it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They were too short to keep on their own, so i put them together. Shrugs.


	10. Showpieces

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: America ends up as part of a freak show, where he meets others in there, all deformed or can do unusual things. He wants to escape and he wants to take his new friends with him.
> 
> Bonus: pairings are allowed, but I'm a bit picky when it comes to certain ones .
> 
> Bonus: America has his strength but he also has something else different about him
> 
> Posted Jan 10 2014

Alfred's found out when he's barely fifteen.

To his credit, the fact that he'd hidden his true nature until then was something of a small miracle, because as anyone could attest, wings aren't exactly easy to hide. It wasn't his wings, though, that gave him away - those were only discovered after his old and well loved jacket had been torn away from him during his first escape attempt.

No, what had gotten him captured was his own brand of heroism coming to bite him in the ass.

He'd thought that the other boy had been in trouble; it had certainly looked like it, what with the big guy looming over him and looking menacing while the boy himself looked nervous. Alfred had leapt in without a second thought, shoving the man away and to the ground before turning with a grin to his latest 'rescue'.

"Hey there, you alright?"

The boy just gaped, eyes wide, looking a lot more worried than before. Alfred paused, giving himself a chance to see the man picking himself up out of the corner of his eye and somehow looking even more menacing than before, even with his glasses. His fists raised, facing the man again. "What, ready for round two already?"

"I think that's quite enough of that out of you, young man." Alfred twirled, ready to face the newcomer, only to freeze in sudden fear upon locking eyes with sharp-pupiled green.

The man smirked, stepping forward to grab his chin and lift it up, examining Alfred in much the way one would an interesting bauble. Alfred started to force himself out of whatever strange fear was gripping him, pulling away weakly and earning a raised eyebrow from the man.

"You're a stubborn one, aren't you?" He turned away, looking towards the other boy. "Did he hurt you, Matthew?"

Matthew shook his head, eyes carefully averted from the man's, probably to avoid the same thing that was still gripping Alfred. The man he'd shoved out of the way earlier came to stand next to Matthew, resting a hand on his shoulder while looking to the newcomer.

"He's a lot stronger than he looks; be careful with him, Mr. Kirkland."

"Oh, really now?" The man replied, glancing back to Alfred. "How… peculiar."

It was about then that Alfred managed to break free, shoving the snake-eyed man away and making a break for it. Whoever these people were, they were clearly Bad News. He never should have given himself away like that-

"Oh no you don't-" A hand grabbed at him, clasping tight to the top of his jacket and trapping him. He squirmed desperately for escape, not even noticing the jacket sliding from his shoulders until suddenly he was free, stumbling forward several steps before realizing what was missing. Sucking in a breath, he twirled, eyes squinted to avoid Kirkland's eyes while allowing him to realize with a sinking heart that held tight in his grip.

"You, boy, just became very much worth my time." The man said, his smirk now almost predatory. "Matthew, if you would."

Matthew turned to him again, face apologetic, before his lips parted, and Alfred knew no more but vague bliss.

~0~0~

When Alfred woke up, he was in a small, plain room, with nothing but a bed and table. Both, he found, were bolted to the floor, making it difficult for even him to lift them. Obviously they'd taken precautions against his strength.

He also noted, with some discomfort, that both his baggy shirt and old bomber jacket were gone, leaving his back - and wings - fully exposed. On top of that, a fast check of his wings showed several of them clipped, probably to prevent him flying off. He wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry - the idea that he could fly meant they vastly overestimated him, but at the same time it meant that he couldn't even make an attempt at escaping that way.

His head fell into his hands, hiding his face as he shook silently. What was going to happen to him now? Would he be experimented on, as the few who had known his secret had warned? Would he be put on display in some rich guy's home like some prize pet? Would he be - he swallowed - killed, disposed of like some abomination?

He curled into himself, pressed against the bedframe to make himself as small as possible. His wings were half-wrapped around himself, shielding him from view of anyone who cared to look in.

Why was he born the way he was? Alfred had been told that his parents had both been completely normal people, nothing spectacular at all, so when he'd been born like the freak he was, they'd done the only thing any normal person would do and left him to die so that they didn't have to deal with him.

He wasn't sure whether it was true - sometimes he liked to dream they had been just like him, wings and all, and had loved him but been forced to give him up.

Sometimes, though, he just couldn't bring himself to believe that.

Alfred heard a soft click from the other side of the door - a lock? that didn't bode well - and the slow creak of it opening, although he was too wrapped in his depression to bother to look. Quiet footsteps padded across the room, followed by the sound of something being set on the table, and then-

Alfred instinctively flinched away from the hand that settled on his wings, twirling to glare at the person who attempted it. "Don't touch me!"

Matthew frowned, withdrawing but not leaving the room.

Still bitter from being tricked, Alfred refused to let up on his glare. "What do you want? Here to laugh at me for being stupid enough to fall for your trap?"

Matthew shook his head, now looking sad. It only made Alfred angrier; what right did this boy have to be sad - this boy who clearly had done this sort of thing before? "What, don't have anything to say for yourself? Oh wait, I bet your master does that for you too! Probably haven't had a hard day in your life-"

Alfred stopped, too startled by the sudden slap he'd received to do more than stare blankly after Matthew as he stormed out of the room. After a few moments to cool down from his own emotional high, he realized with a small twinge of guilt that he had been rather rude to the other boy without really knowing anything about him.

Then again, surely Matthew deserved it for everything he'd done to Alfred, like… like...

He groaned, pulling his legs back to his chest and settling his head on his knees, completely enclosing himself in his wings; it was his small comfort, a way to hide himself from all the bad things in the world for a short time. Why couldn't things be simple?

His stomach growled, letting him know that he hadn't eaten in… well, however long he'd been out. He sighed, wondering when he'd get food, before remembering that Matthew had brought something in with him. Peeking out, he saw that indeed it was a food tray with a simple meal and glass of water.

...At least it wasn't gruel, he thought to himself as he ate, shoving down the desire for a nice burger or at least something with more flavor than this.

Eying the walls, he wondered whether he could smash through them like the Hulk, before realizing with an internal sigh that if they'd thought of bolting the furniture down, they'd probably thought of that too.

It was strange, actually. They were feeding him normal food, and other than being locked in the rather empty room he wasn't restrained in any way. What did they want from him, then?

...he wasn't sure he wanted to know.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I decided to go with wings, so sue me. I like Al with wings. Anyways, here's yet another thingy that I may never finish or I may work on more.
> 
> I don't think I'll do pairings, but who knows…


	11. Random Drabbles 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just some more random things from tumblr. Nothing super special, variety of AUs and stuff. 
> 
> Mostly UKCan stuff, btw. 
> 
> Posted March 21 2014

The smell used to bother him; rotting flesh and a mix of fresh and dried blood wasn't usually something people enjoyed lingering around for long.

Alfred, however, hadn't had much choice but to get used to it.

For Matt's sake.

Oh, he'd screamed and cried and tried to deny what had happened at first, but there was no way to forget the fear in his twin's eyes as the shadows had consumed him, twisting him into  _this_. He'd tried to hide in a corner to escape the creature his brother had become, sobbing in fear when it'd dragged him out of his dark corner.

He'd thought he was dead, then.

But

Something had stilled its hunger, at least around him. He liked to think his brother was still in there, trying to fight for control. Some days it even seemed like it, with the way the beast acted around him.

Whatever it was, Alfred had come to realize that he was the only thing keeping the monster from murdering more people than it already was. So he stayed, despite his fears.

Because someone had to save Matthew from himself.

Even if it killed them both.

~0~0~0~0~0~

Arthur hadn't so much as looked at another women since his wife had died in childbirth. He'd felt that it was cheating on her memory, even if his mind told him he was being ridiculous for not moving on even after a year.

It didn't really matter though - he had much bigger priorities than a love life, such as the little boy who had quickly because his only light in a gloomy world. Little Peter, just over a year, with his wife's brilliant eyes and laughter. Little Peter, who had kept him from falling into a vicious cycle of drinking and self pity in those weeks and months after his beloved Anri had left their lives.

So one spring day, when he had taken Peter to the park to get them both fresh air, he hadn't been prepared for the way his breath seemed to evade him or the way his heart skipped when Matthew had walked by, nose first in a book and unheeding of the path ahead until he'd nearly tripped head first into the single father.

"I'm sorry, sir, are you all right?" Matthew had asked the older man, offering a helping hand to Arthur, who was still staring at the stranger in a daze.

"Oh- I'm fine, don't worry about me-" He replied after a moment, shaking his head and accepting the hand, pretending he wasn't flushed lightly at how soft it and the young man's smile both were.

Peter, who had watched the whole event with wide eyes, and gotten Matthew's attention and, with a big grin, handed Matthew the flower he'd picked from nearby as thanks.

When the young man laughed at the gesture while accepting graciously, Arthur realized he was fucked.

And not in the good way either.

At least, not yet.

~0~0~0~0~0~

"Can't catch me~!" Lief cried out, laughing gleefully as he dashed across the field, his brother chasing after with an equally wide and carefree grin.

"Wait up!" Hop had yelled, focused entirely on catching his twin brother.

Behind them, Sweden and Denmark stood, watching with smiles as the two ran about, enjoying the fresh air and clean feeling of the New World air.

"Odin, those two are adorable." Denmark commented, laughing as Hop managed to tackle his brother to the ground, the two beginning to roll around in the grass.

"We're lucky to have them." Sweden replied, eyes watchful as the two started to roll closer to the woods. He frowned lightly, about to step forward before he felt a slap on his shoulder.

"It's so weird to see you smile so much. Those two must really be good for you."

Sweden snorted, turning to Denmark with a small shake of his head. "And you're less of a jerk when you're around them, so I could say the same."

"Hey!" But Denmark was grinning, unphased by the insult. "At least I don't mother them."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Sweden's face, flushed as it was, betrayed him, though.

The two were interrupted by twin screams, their heads snapping towards the woods that the twins had apparently disappeared into during their conversation. Now the two were running toward them, wide eyed as they made their way straight toward their guardians.

"MAMA! MAMA!"

Behind them was a large brown beast - wasn't it called a moose by the natives? - who seemed more intent on scaring them off then hurting them.

Sweden still ran forward though, gathering the two up and hauling them out of the way of the beast.

"This is why I told you to not wander off." Sweden chastised them gently, holding them close as they calmed down from their scare.

"We're sorry..." Hop mumbled, a similar apology following from Leif.

"C'mon, let's head back - I think dinner's just about ready." Denmark added, ruffling their hair and making them straighten a little as they smiled.

"Food!" They cheered, making Denmark and Sweden laugh as they all headed back to the village, glad everything had turned out alright.

Behind them, the moose snorted, meandering back into the woods.

~0~0~0~0~0~

Arthur sighed in exhaustion, the smile on his face weakened by the fact that he'd just spent an hour trying to calm Peter down. However, he couldn't begrudge his son for being young, and he loved when Peter was laughing happily like he was now, unburdened by the weight of the world.

He sighed again, letting Peter grab his fingers and smiling a bit more genuinely as the other started babbling.

"I wish your mother were still here, Peter... she'd make everything so much easier..."

"Mama..."

Arthur's smile froze, scarcely believing his ears as he looked down at his son, who was unaware of the sudden ache that one word had put into his father's chest.

"...yes, Peter, I miss her too..."

~0~0~0~0~0~

"What were you thinking going up against that thing?" Arthur all but snapped at Matthew, carefully wrapping the Canadian's wounded arm up.

"He wasn't going to hurt me until you shot him…" Matthew grumbled, biting back a wince at a particularly tight tug of the gauze.

"It was a bloody vampire, on a full moon-"

"I know, Arthur, but-"

"-honestly, you've gone insane from too much combat-"

"-Arthur-"

"-should stick you in the madhouse if it wouldn't make you an easy target-"

"-it was my brother."

"Wot." Arthur levelled Matthew's annoyed look with his own flat one.

"The vampire that 'attacked' me was my twin brother. Who, in fact, wasn't attacking me at all."

Arthur finished wrapping the arm, tucking the end underneath and putting the extra gauze away. "I find that difficult to believe."

Matthew sighed, leaning back and rubbing at his face with his good hand. "He was turned two years ago, right before I joined the corps. I didn't say anything because I didn't want anyone to hurt him. He's- well, I can't say he's normal, but he's still good. He only feeds from animals, and he tries to avoid hurting the hunters that see him, just knocks them out and blurs their memories."

Arthur frowned. "How do you know he isn't lying to you?"

Matthew shook his head. "I've asked myself that too, at first. But he's just- you have to know him to understand. He's shared a lot of inside information on their movements and leadership, which is why we've been having a high success rate lately."

Arthur had been wondering about the slight increase, marking it down as a lucky streak or carelessness on the vampires' parts. But an inside feed?

"On top of that, well…" Matthew shrugged with one arm, smiling a bit sheepishly. "He's my brother. He's the only family I have left, really, so…"

Arthur rested his hands on the younger man's shoulders. "Just be careful Matthew - I don't want to see you hurt."

Matthew laughed softly, resting his hand on one of Arthur's. "Love you too."

~0~0~0~0~0~

"I'm home." Arthur called out tiredly as he stepped into the house. He'd been buried under a heap of paperwork, making him late to get home, much to his embarrassment.

"Oh, Mr. Kirkland!" Matthew greeted, quickly rising from his spot on the couch where he'd been watching TV. "I already put Peter to bed, so you don't have to worry about that."

"Thank you." Arthur smiled sincerely, holding back a chuckle at the light flush that spread across the college student's face. "I'm sorry if I ruined any plans for you this evening."

"No, it's fine, I didn't really have much to do."

"If you're sure." Matthew was probably just being polite to not hurt his feelings. "How much do I owe you, again?"

He gave Matthew an extra ten dollars on top of the price named, causing the Canadian to initially refuse. "It really wasn't any trouble, Mr. Kirkland-"

"Please, call me Arthur. And you worked overtime, so you deserve extra pay. Basic economics."

"But sir-"

"Matthew, it's fine." He closed Matthew's hand around the bills, causing the other to blush even more furiously and cut himself off.

"Thank you, Arthur." He managed to get out, quickly leaving and leaving Arthur behind to chuckle.

After a moment, he stepped into the kitchen, intent on making himself a late snack, only to find some cooling food already set out for him. Blinking, he cautiously took a bite, relishing the taste of the food thoroughly. He glanced back towards the doorway thoughtfully, taking another bite and wondering idly whether it might not be too terrible to be a bit late more often.

~0~0~0~0~0~

Arthur was quiet for a long moment after his boss had finished explaining his offer. Higher pay. More benefits. Increased vacation time.

All he had to do was accept a post halfway across the city from his home, which would no doubt mean an hour's commute either way at the least.

And that meant much less time with Peter.

He smiled, somewhat strained. "I'm sorry sir, but I can't accept right now."

~0~0~0~0~0~

"Hey, Mattie, Francis came by again today." Alfred's hand was wrapped around his twins, a small smile plastered on his face. "Brought by some cookies and said that if I was gonna stay here I should eat something that 'doesn't taste like Artie's cooking'.

"Chellie says your casts should be coming off soon - everything's all healed up, so you'll be able to kick butt in hockey again like you always do. Just promise me you'll knock that Ruskie for a good one, yeah? He's been all weird lately and really needs it.

Alfred swallowed, the smile starting to slip.

"Everyone's really missed ya, y'know. Keep sending cards and flowers and everything. Almost feels like Valentine's Day all over again, only you haven't gotten all freaked out over the attention yet. You remember that time you got cornered by a couple of the cheerleaders by the gym and had lipstick all over your cheeks?"

He laughed softly, a more honest grin stretching across his face.

"Francis couldn't stop congratulating you for being a 'real casanova' and Artie was practically fuming. You couldn't stop blushing for a full week, dude, it was hilarious."

His chatter lulled, supplanted by the steady beeping of the machine.

"...I really, really wish I hadn't let you leave the party without me. I thought you'd get a taxi home or something, not..."

Another pause, as he tried to find his voice again.

"...Please wake up, soon, Mattie. Please..."

~0~0~

_"Hey, Alfred."_

_Alfred looks over to his brother from where he's lying in the grass. "Yeah, Mattie?"_

_Matthew is lying beside him, looking right back at him with a soft smile. "It's been a while since we've done this, hasn't it? Just… hung out together."_

_"Mmm." Alfred isn't complaining at all._

_"I think I could just stay in a place like this forever…" He lets his gaze move up to that endless too-blue sky, Alfred's gaze following after a moment. "…hey, Al, you don't mind if I take a nap, do you?"_

_"Nah, it's cool."_

_"Thanks… I'm just… really tired…"_

_Something coils in Alfred's gut, heavy and dark, and his ears are starting to ring. "Hey, Mattie?"_

_No response, and Alfred forces himself up to look at his brother, who isn't moving. "Mattie, something's wrong, we need to go."_

_Still no response, and the ringing is getting louder, so Alfred reaches over to grab his brother to shake him awake only to pass right thr-_

He's shaken awake, the ringing becoming the endless  _eeeeeeeeeeeee_  of the monitor, and its only when he's been dragged halfway from the room that it dawns on his foggy mind what's wrong.

"Mattie!" He practically screams, trying to get back to his brother. "Mattie, no, you're supposed to wake up-"

He's pushed down the hall and into a chair, held and held down by the nurse he had liked but now hated more than anything because she was keeping him from his brother, whispering to him through his shouts and sobs.

He doesn't know how long he struggles - minutes, seconds, hours - but when the doctor finally leaves the room and looks at him, he simply  _knows_ , and collapses into himself, because shutting out the world is easier than accepting the truth, that his other half is-

~0~0~0~0~0~

The one thing they agreed upon was that the merman was absolutely gorgeous.

Alfred and Arthur, having been friends since they (read: Alfred) had nearly blown up their high school chemistry lab in the name of science, were often found working on the same project whenever their respective disciplines overlapped. As Alfred was a biologist (so that he was on the front lines of research when the aliens came) and Arthur was an anthropologist (despite his constant portrayal of disdain for the human species), this didn't happen too often.

Then again, discovery of an entirely new species straight from the old faerie tales didn't happen too often either.

Their argument about their origins - whether from down below or up above - lasted until the day the creature who had been captured by an unwitting fisherman was transferred to their university's largest tank. When the news had gotten out, there had been a large outrage over what to do with it - some claimed it should be immediately released, while others called for it to be shown to the public, while others still thought it was all a large hoax to distract from the latest political scandals.

Ultimately, it'd been decided that in order to get some data on the creature, it would be best to get what information they could in a private setting before releasing it with a tracker. (Not that anyone really thought such a thing would survive long, but it was worth an attempt).

Their first impression upon actually seeing the creature was that stories did not come close to the real deal. Maybe it was just a lucky specimen, but the soft face and skin that melted into lavender scales was enough to tempt one to touch it just to see if it was real.

Their second impression, once the merman blinked open its eyes to take in its new surroundings, was that it was much more intelligent than the people who they had talked to had claimed, coming to focus on them with startling swiftness. Eyes narrowed and lips pressed thin, hiding the remnants of exhaustion and nerves outlines around his eyes and mouth.

He moved closer to the glass separating the two species, prompting Alfred to step forward without even thinking about it so they could look right at each other. It was a face off between grinning American confidence and wary Atlantean distrust.

At least, until a flick of the tail caused some of the water to splash over the rim of the tank, conveniently soaking Alfred and getting both Arthur and the merman to grin (although likely for different reasons).

Obviously this was going to be an interesting few months.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just some more random drabbles. My friends seem to have certain themes of requests which don't quite mesh with my preferred writing, but whatever. It sucks being the only one of my friends to ship AmeCan as my primary and pretty much sole OTP. 
> 
> My friends on tumblr were obsessed with it, even though I wasn't, so yeah.


	12. Bunny Drabbles 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just some more bunny drabbles inspired by my own things.
> 
> Posted April 2 2014

Blue Butterfly:

Alfred emerged from the dense woods only to wince, his eyes unadjusted to the bright sunlight streaming through. After taking a minute to adjust, he looked out across the field he'd stumbled into only to suck in a breath. Tens of thousands of those strange butterflies fluttered, perched on every available spot they could find or else fluttering around over them.

A few, disturbed by his stumbling about, had risen up in protest before realizing his suitability as a resting spot and promptly settling on him. He held one up, still in awe at their unearthly patterning that reminded him somewhat of the art that decorated old books, elaborate and swirling and all encompassing.

He stepped further into the field, each step setting off a burst of blue that either settled on him or behind him, although a few instead hovered in the air around him as tiny ethereal bodyguards. The one he'd originally followed to this place (and, he was certain, had been his guide all this time), was hovering with others near the center, a rich dark blue in contrast to the smaller, paler attendants around it.

"Alfred? What are you doing here?" Alfred turned, seeing Matthew looking at him with pleading eyes. "It;s not safe here - let's just go home."

"I am going home." He truly realized that now, could somehow see the slight  _wrongness_  about everything around him now. Was this because of the butterflies?

"This could be your home, though." Matthew stepped forward, sending more blue flying than Alfred had. "You were happy, you were safe… you had everything you wanted."

"But none of this is real." Alfred sighed, aching at the reminder. "I can't be happy living in a dream forever. I have responsibilities to my real family and friends, my country, my people… it's hard, but I can't make other people hurt because of me."

Matthew lunged forward, clinging tight, eyes wild now. "Just forget again - stay with us - you don't owe them anything -"

"I owe them everything!" Alfred felt the trickling burn enter his veins, his frustration matching with the pity for Matthew - whoever or whatever this was - that was unable to let go. The butterflies that had settled on him took off, fluttering around the two with the same agitation. "They're why I exist, why I keep fighting, why I am who I am. I can't forget them, not again."

"But you'll lose me forever." Matthew pleaded. "He can never love you like I can."

That was the breaking point. "I don't care!" He shoved the frightened not-Matthew off of him, looking him square in the eyes. "You're right; he won't love me the way I want him to. But he's my brother and I'm his, and that's more real than anything you ever gave me!"

He shoved the fake away, watching him stumble and collapse backwards into the field, sending up an explosion of blue butterflies. The body burst apart on contact with the ground, thousands of angry red butterflies rising up like a cloud to engulf him, only to be stopped when the disturbed blue rushed forward to surround them and keep them back.

It was strange watching such normally peaceful creatures fight; he wasn't even sure if it could be called a fight if not for the bodies that twitched and dissolved, losers in the strange dance that'd started because of him. It was depressing really, that they were fighting because of him.

The dark blue butterfly came around to hover in front of him, distracting from the carnage and directing his attention back towards the center of the field. Whether it was the fight or some other reason, the remaining butterflies had all taken off, filling the sky with shimmery blue as they flew towards the quickly darkening sky. If he looked, he could see a dim red light before them, steadily brightening as more and more of them flew into it.

The butterfly flew ahead, once again patiently waiting for him to follow.

Alfred gave one last glance back to the battle that was now winding down, giving a quiet goodbye to what could have been, and walked away, heading towards the wooden door that had formed, its designs perfectly matched to those of the butterflies. He pressed lightly, and it opened silently to inky black.

He hesitated, glancing back to the butterfly that had not proceeded in front of him.

"...thank you."

It rose briefly higher, an acknowledgement, and with a deep breath he stepped through. The door shut behind him, and for a long time he couldn't see anything. He panicked, briefly, wondering if he'd been tricked, before realizing his eyes were closed. Rather anticlimactically, he opened them to see he was standing in a field much like the one he'd left not a minute ago, but for the lack of butterflies.

But he knew this one was different, because the earth under him sang in welcome and familiarity - his land, warm and wide and all encompassing. A deep breath left him energized, abuzz with life and people and sun in the first time in what felt like ages.

He was as much America as he was Alfred, and all it'd taken to remind him of that was being kidnapped and trapped from himself to realize that. He laughed, a grin stretching across his face, and he began to run, endless energy filling him and overflowing.

It only took a few hours to reach his colonial house - it was, after all, built close to where he was born and reborn again, even if no one knew that but him. He pushed open the door, the house quiet but not empty as he walked down the hall, heading for the only place that mattered right now.

It took a minute for Arthur and Matthew, who had been sitting on the couch solemnly, to realize he was there, and another three seconds to fling themselves at him, foregoing all dignity in favor of wrapping around him in heavy relief and joy. He laughed, holding them back and crying with them as they just clung tight to one another.

He was finally home.

~0~0~0~0~0~0~

Mutatia:

It was smaller than him, but not by much.

Tony had - through his tinkering - found a way to recode the original DNA to recreate the creature it had come from, and America had decided it wouldn't hurt to see what exactly he'd been like before he'd changed back to normal.

Its feathers ruffled as it looked him over, plumed head held high. America couldn't remember having the burst of feathers framing his face, but he probably would have looked ridiculous with them, unlike the - parrot-eagle? He couldn't quite decide - before him. Ironically, the red white and blue coloring was natural to its species, and in no way related to his flag.

It finally struck him what it reminded him of - a hippogryph, straight out of the books, only much more colorful. On a wild whim, he decided it couldn't hurt to try, and made a show of bowing in greeting. After a tense moment, it returned it, wings flared out to showcase their massive span.

America grinned, now reaching out to touch the bird's soft feathers, marvelling at the hidden strength he could feel beneath them. He would have to see if he could convince the newly reborn bird to run some tests, but he already had a good feeling of what to expect.

"Guess I know why we got stuck together, huh?"

The Braviary seemed to agree.

~0~0~

He hated tricking Mattie, but he'd already shown reluctance to coming near any of the alien tech from the Ship, even if it was replicas made by Tony. In order to make him normal again (and prove the replication worked), America would have to get him to hold onto one long enough for it to deactivate the foreign DNA in his system.

After a thorough check to make sure it worked after being chilled, Alfred stuck it in the freezer overnight along with some plain water in roundish cups for better concealment. The following morning, he set off the trap by pouring the ice cubes and the sphere down the back of Matt's shirt.

The Glaceon-hybrid startled, not affected by the cold due to his nature but still displeased with the surprise attack. He whirled on the sheepish America, who was holding his hands up in surrender, ready to throw the ice back at him, only to realize what he was clutching a second too late.

Matthew fell to a knee, free hand pressed to his forehead and eyes glazed over as America watched the foreign features melt away and face flush with sudden warmth as he returned to his normal self. Alfred bent down to be level with his brother, resting a hand on Canada's cheek as he slowly returned to himself at last.

"Alfred…" He coughed, pressing a hand to his throat and frowning at how quietly it came out. "Why is my throat so dry… and why is everything so fuzzy?"

"You'll remember in a minute, Mattie. Lemme get you some water while you catch up, alright?"

The American returned to find the Canadian flushed even brighter, refusing to look straight at him. Apparently all the memories had in fact come back, leaving the poor man embarrassed.

"None of that was really us, Matt, so don't worry about it too much. If you want we can go talk to Tony later so we can catch you up on our awesome plan to save humanity."

Canada laughed despite himself. America thought it was a wonderful sound to hear after all this time.

~0~0~0~0~0~0~

Canada Is America's Shadow:

Alfred breathed in, then back out. Tried really hard to not focus on that small but present drain that was making his emotions feel - softer. Grayer?

"Y'know, that feels  _really_  weird now that I actually notice it."

"Sorry," Matthew replied automatically, ducking his head a bit when Alfred's emotions started to tinge with laughter. "It's just- the only way I really know how to eat."

"I've seen you eat normal food all the time, though," The American frowned, brows furrowing slightly as he turned to look at his brother. "You practically obsess over sugary stuff."

"I can still taste things, even if they don't really do anything for me," Matthew shrugged. "Sugar has the strongest taste for me, so I prefer it 's all."

"...oh."

"Al…" Matthew could feel the squirming of his brother's emotions, prompting him to lean forward to rest a hand on his chest.

"I just- every time I think I get used to my brother being some gh- spirit thingy, you go and say something like that and I just- 's weird."

Matthew smiled sympathetically. "It's not something I'm really expecting you to get used to. I'm just happy you don't hate me for being what I am."

"Dude, how could I?" Alfred blinked at him. "I mean, you're still you either way, and you're too dorky and helpless to really be evil."

"Gee, thanks." The Canadian replied dryly. "I'll keep that in mind for when I finally become strong enough to take over the world."

"You wouldn't do that." His brother instantly replied, though at the continued resolved expression the northern Nation wore, he faltered slightly. "...right?"

Matthew smiled innocently.

"Right? Mattie c'mon don't start being creepy here-"

Matthew's body started to shake with silent laughter, the grin finally breaking out. "No, Al, I'm not planning on taking over the world."

The American huffed, flushed at being fooled for even a moment. "You'd probably forget you had them anyways, Mr. Leaves My Glasses in the Fridge."

"That was an accident!"

"Matt, you forgot where your house was once and lived with me for a  _week_."

Matthew pouted heavily. "I shouldn't have told you about that."

Alfred grinned, leaning over to pinch his brother's cheek. "Too late for that, bro. I know all your secrets now."

"Not  _all_ of them…" The Canadian muttered, fading slightly in lieu of a blush. He realized his mistake too late when Alfred shuddered, his gaze looking away from the suddenly transparent Nation. "Sorry!"

"It's fine, really-" The southern Nation denied, flinching when a sudden;y much cooler touch rested on his arms.

"Alfred, look."

And what choice did he have with that tone? Alfred turned back to his brother, who wore an earnest expression backdropped by the blue patterned wallpaper behind him. "Matt-"

"I'm not a ghost, Alfred. You can still touch me like this, see?" To emphasise, he squeezed lightly, the depressions of skin visible through his fingers.

Alfred shivered, but clasped a hand over Matthew's, clinging tight to the fingers that, though fragile under his grip, still felt like a solid… something. "Not a ghost." He told himself, holding onto that thought along with his brother's hand.

Matthew smiled, nodding. "Not a ghost."

The tension started to slip away, and though he knew that was partially his brother's fault, Alfred still allowed himself to relax, watching solidity return to the other's form. "I still blame you for all those nighttime freakouts, though."

The Canadian laughed softly. "Fair enough."

~0~0~0~0~0~0~

Thunderbird:

Alfred paused just as he was leaving the meeting room with the rest of the crowd, turning on his heel to shout back into the room. "Hey, Yao, can I talk with you for a minute?"

"I'm not loaning you more money!" Yao instantly shot back.

The familiar banter had the last Nations straggling out chuckling between themselves over how some things just never changed. Matthew was one of them, though he was stopped short when Al grabbed his arm, grinning despite the fact that his twin could probably see the stress behind his expression.

"Hey, Mattie, can ya wait for me for a bit? I just need to talk to Yao about this thing really fast."

Matthew smiled and nodded. "Sure, but don't take too long," The Canadian paused for a second, a question on the tip of his tongue, before he shook his head minutely and left the room, leaving only a few Nations as he shut the meeting room doors and turned back to them.

"So, what's got you so worked up you needed a private meeting?" Tino asked from his seat on the table. "You seemed pretty determined to have all of us here."

Alfred sighed, trying to decide exactly what to say, eventually settling on the simplest answer. "Mattie knows about me."

There were no cries of shock or screaming about betrayal - they were all far too old to make accusations before knowing the reasons behind someone's actions.

"How?" Yao asked first, scales almost brimming under his skin.

Alfred grimaced, rubbing at his arm. "Wendigo came south, attacked us when we were out hiking. I couldn't get him away before it tried to go for him, so I had to fight it off while Nanuq carried him back to the house. He saw enough to know something was going on though, so… I showed him."

"And you didn't try to come to one of us to cover up for you first?" Feliks asked, frowning. "I could've totally blamed it on Ivan or something, since it's an ice creature and all that."

"He'd still want to know how I knew how to fight it, though, especially since I've worked so hard to make everyone believe I don't know anything about magic or the supernatural." The American sighed again, rubbing at his neck. "I also just didn't wanna lie, ya know? I spent a long time thinking about getting you guys to help but - I couldn't go through with it. He's still my brother, and I figured if anyone would be able to handle knowing, it'd be him."

Yao continued to watch him patiently. "Did you tell him about us?"

"No!" Alfred quickly answered. "No way, he thinks I'm the only one like this, and I'm not planning on correcting that unless you guys decide to say something."

"Thank the spirits," Feliks muttered, slumping a bit in his seat. "Not that I thought you would, but, well."

"I get it, it's cool. We really can't be too careful these days," Alfred shrugs. "Other than that, I'm still looking into what brought that wendigo south and whether I'll have to spend time scaring them away again, but otherwise that's all I have to say."

Tino stood up, approaching the younger Nation and resting a hand on his shoulder. "I hope you know what you're doing by telling him the truth."

Alfred slowly nods, mouth set in a thin line. "I hope so too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cause sometimes I just wanna poke some of my ideas a bit more to see what I can do with them before I actually commit to writing them out all the way.


	13. Hetaburb Drabbles (Homestuck X-over)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just some random things I wrote for when I thought the Hetaburb ring I was in was gonna actually do stuff, but unfortunately we just didn't get enough people for a full session. I was gonna rp a Knight of Space!Alfred, and, well, yeah.
> 
> Posted May 1 2014

**WHITE QUEEN, BLACK QUEEN**

When he woke up on Prospit for the second time, there was little difference in the room besides a – tablet? - at the foot of the bed. Confused, Alfred picked it up, turning the picture this way and that, until the image clicked. It was a map, with directions to… someplace.

No, wait, was that a little crown etched there? Maybe it was where that strange white woman lived? Well, there was only one way to find out…

He leaned out the window, warily looking to the ground below. On one hand he could try to do the float-y thing again, which would probably be faster, but on the other hand… that was a really sharp fall. Alfred eventually compromised, using the hidden staircase to make his way down to the street, and then allowed himself to float along just above the heads of the little white people who lived here.

After several wrong turns and several times of coming close to crashing into someone, he finally found the palace, and was duly impressed. Making his way down the long hall, many of the workers startled on seeing him, some even fleeing into side corridors. Was he really that scary looking to them?

Maybe smiling would help?

He gave the next one he passed a friendly wave and grin, and while they startled they did give a feeble wave back. Well, to was better than nothing, at least.

Reaching the end, there were two thrones but no occupants. Maybe they were out?

He settled down onto the ground, walking over to the thrones. They looked to be made of the same goldish material everything else was, although he doubted it actually was.

Something grabbed the back of his shirt, startling a yell out of him when he was lifted to eye level of what looked like the white woman's evil twin. She was entirely black, and eying him with some distaste.

"So, you're the little player who's been getting everyone here riled up. I was expecting more."

Player? What was that, some sort of insult? He struggled, but was unable to get out of the grip.

"Put him down; the game hasn't started yet."

The black woman glared at her counterpart, but dropped Alfred, who landed roughly. "You think I don't know that? We've been waiting nearly four thousand of his years for things to finally start. Until he woke up, most of us doubted that there ever would be a session."

"I know it's been a long wait, but we have very unique players."

"They sure don't seem to be anything special." The black queen gave Alfred a doubtful look.

Alfred bristled. Just because he was still a colony didn't make him weak! He stood up, fists clenched. She laughed, the noise ringing in the room. "Oh, are you going to prove me wrong, little knight?"

"Arthur taught me not to hit people cause I could hurt them really bad…" Alfred started, before delivering a firm kick straight into her shin, sending her sprawling to the floor. Her gasp made him worry that he hadn't held back enough, but her leg seemed intact when she went to grab at it. "…but I don't think he'd be angry at me for that."

After shakily getting back to her feet, she gave Alfred another glare, but this time there also seemed to be a hint of admiration to it. "Well, you do have some bite after all. Too bad you aren't a Derse player, or I might have even liked you."

A gentle hand was placed on Alfred's shoulder, and he looked up to the white woman, who seemed… tired, if also a bit amused. "I think it's time you get back to your bed, Alfred. The black queen and I have important matters to discuss, and you're likely going to wake soon."

Nodding reluctantly, he waved goodbye before making his way back to his tower. He was yawning by the time he climbed up the stairs to his bed, and he collapsed into it, only to wake up staring at the roof of his house, feeling refreshed if still confused over what exactly had happened in the dream he'd just had.

…oh well, it couldn't really be anything important, right?

~0~0~0~0~0~

**PROSPIT DREAMER**

It's the Dream again.

It's different from Alfred's normal dreams, because he's always on the same golden world and always somewhat aware that he's dreaming, even though it feels real.

He looks out the window, gaze sliding over the cityscape below before settling over on the other gold spires much like the one he was in now. The sleeping forms of some of his friends and allies probably hadn't changed since he was last here, but he still felt the need to check on them just to be sure. He wasn't sure what would happen if they weren't alright, but something deep in him said it would be bad.

His gaze slid up towards the blue, cloudy sky approaching above. The sky was steadily growing bluer as the Eclipse of Prospit and Skaia approached, and already he could make out distant images within the clouds approaching.

Alfred supposed he could wait a few minutes to get in some viewing. After all, the clouds hadn't been wrong yet.

They were one of the reasons he suspected Prospit was something other than a dream; the only things he could think of were that either he had somehow inherited some bizarre dream-magic from Arthur that let him see the past, present, and future while he was sleeping… or else he was actually awake on another world.

To be honest, he couldn't tell which was more absurd. Neither could Tony when he'd told the alien about them. Evidence pointed to the first, since he'd had Tony monitor him through plenty of these sessions without him so much as twitching back on Earth, but he was understandably reluctant to just handwave it as magic without solid evidence.

The sky was completely blue now, the Eclipse in full effect. Alfred's eyes darted from cloud to cloud, lingering only when one chose the moment to show him something. Ones featuring the past were generally passed over, already knowing what was going on in them. The present tended to have him linger longer depending on where its view landed, especially if it featured someone close to him.

The future was what he focused on most. Never had the clouds been wrong when they chose to give him a glimpse of the future, no matter how unlikely it seemed. The image of Arthur on his knees before him in the rain and been one of the earliest, along with numerous images of his star spangled banner at various points in his timeline, had been enough to keep himself from giving up during the toughest moments of his history, because he knew he would make it through them in the end.

Some had been easier to puzzle out after viewing them, while others weren't understood until he'd seen them for the first time.

There had been visits with no such visions, so he knew not to count on them. However, this time seemed to be rewarding, as less than a minute into the eclipse his gaze slid onto a large cloud just when its image started to play.

His eyes widened as the scene played, the fire reflecting in his eyes. He knew that house – had been in it thousands of times -

"Maggie-"

Without thought his gaze tore away from the vision, vaulting through the window and quickly flying over to the closest of the spires.

Inside, his Canadian sister slept peacefully, unravaged by fire. The Prospitian dusting the room startled at his sudden appearance, twittering and bowing herself out while he slid into the room.

Sighing in relief, he sat down on the bed, after a moment ruffling the well-kept hair. Now that the panic was over, he amused himself with the idea of her waking up to the messy hair he was giving her, figuring the whack he'd get for it would be well worth it.

His gaze slid back to the window, where the sky was still invitingly blue. If he looked again he could probably catch another vision before the Eclipse ended, but after the last one he wasn't really in the mood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> On a completely unrelated note, I also edited some bases for myself and some of the others in the ring when it was gonna be a thing. They turned out surprisingly nice in my opinion.


	14. Hogwarts AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because everyone needs to write a Hogwarts!AU for their favorite characters. It's basically a law of fanfiction by now.
> 
> Posted May 26 2014

[Fifth Year]

Matthew slipped into the Ravenclaw common room, smiling at the two first years and waving as they noticed him. They seemed surprised to see someone with green lined robes in their room, but one look at his face, which looked remarkably like that of one of the fifth years, seemed to relax them enough to not make a scene.

Although it usually annoyed him to be mistaken for his twin, there were some benefits to their similar looks, such as passing off any of his more… questionable activities as his brother's usual insane antics. Considering Alfred hardly minded the attention, and the teachers all liked him enough to shrug it off as the mark of 'genius', it benefited everyone in the end, especially himself.

Speaking of his twin, Alfred and his dorm-mate slash best friend slash epic rival had been missing all weekend. Knowing the two, it meant they were either on the verge of a breakthrough or a disaster of monumental proportions.

Possibly both.

He'd thought the things Alfred and Ivan came up with in their quests to one up each other had been impressive, but that was nothing compared to what the two managed when they got along long enough to go through with whatever insane notion one of them came up with.

Matthew made his way up the stairs to the boys' fifth year dorm, knowing that to be their base of operations as the only two male fifth year Ravenclaws. The sound of voices only confirmed that the two were in the middle of an experiment, and his sense of caution fought with his interest in what exactly the two were up to before he finally decided to knock.

"Alfred? Ivan? Is it safe to come in?"

"Matt?" There was the sound of things been moved around hastily, probably under Alfred's bed. "Just give us a sec-"

There was low muttering, followed by Ivan's lower voice, "It is safe now."

Matthew pushed the door open, looking between a tired, but grinning Alfred, an equally tired Ivan, and the cauldron of… pinkish-greenish-blue simmering in the middle of the dorm. "What have you been up to?"

"Well, Ivan and I were talkin about how expensive it is to get some ingredients for potions-"

"-and Fredka decided he wanted to save the dragons-"

"-Hey, they're freakin' cool, and it's not fair they get killed just for ingredients-"

"-he is also convinced they are actually extremely intelligent-"

"-there's no proof they aren't-"

"Get to the point please," Matthew sighed, knowing the two would argue for the next hour given the chance.

"-right," Alfred continued like there'd been no interruption at all. "So we decided to try and make a new material that would work just like dragon hide but doesn't require harvesting innocent and intelligent dragons!"

Matthew blinked, replaying that in his mind. A brewable substitute to dragon hide would be… well, it would market for a lot of cash. And possibly make a lot of enemies from the people who made their money through the dragon trade.

Wait, was the potion supposed to be bubbling like that?

On voicing the concern aloud, Alfred twirled on the cauldron, paling rapidly as the bubbles got even more furious. "Dude, what spell did you cast on it?"

"Just the stasis spell we use on all our potions-" Ivan halted, paling as well.

"-you mean the one that blows up when it interacts with-"

Alfred had no time to finish, as the cauldron exploded, sending the potion everywhere, including the three unfortunate teens. Despite the bubbling, the potion was actually only lukewarm, if uncomfortably rough on Matthew's skin.

No, wait, it was his skin that was rough?

Looking to his brother's face told him all he needed to know. In between the draining globs of potion were the signs of thicker, rougher skin, which Alfred was scrubbing at with a mix of interest and annoyance.

"Everyone alright?" Alfred asked, looking between his brother and his friend, both of which looked more exasperated than anything at the situation.

"Other than my pride, I am fine." Ivan groaned, wiping a glob onto the floor. "Please tell me you know a spell to reverse this."

"Hold on a sec-" Alfred wiped his hand off on his robe before hunting through his pocket for his wand. With a swish and a mumbled incantation Ivan's face glowed briefly blue… and stopped with no change at all. Alfred frowned. "Weird, that's supposed to work…"

"Stay still, I want to try something." Matthew told his brother suddenly, a gleam in his eyes. Before Alfred could ask, Matthew had raised his wand, incanted, and sent a familiar red light straight at him, prompting him to raised his hands in futile defense.

When nothing happened, he lowered his arms slowly to see the surprised, if pleased expressions the other two sported.

"Your skin just absorbed the spell." Ivan informed him, causing Alfred to blink twice before grinning and whooping.

"Yes, I knew the formula would work! Obviously we messed up by using magic around it, but-"

And Alfred was off, getting more and more worked up and beginning to infect Ivan with his enthusiasm as they discussed tests of the finished product on other materials. Matthew just shook his head, more impressed than anything at how brilliant his twin could be sometimes, even if he often came off as a complete airhead to others who didn't know him.

The nurse, once they came down to the Hospital Wing to deal with their new skin condition, failed to agree.

~0~0~0~0~

[First Year]

Alfred and Matthew huddled together as the group they were in shuffled into the Great Hall. Their parents had told them, before the two had gotten on the train, to stick together no matter what, not that they needed to be told. Why would they want to lose track of their best friend and twin?

They both watched the ratty old hat on the stool sing, Alfred with more fascination than his brother. Eventually came the sorting, and one by one the students around them walked up and had the hat set on their head; after varying lengths of time the hat would shout out a house for them, which would helpfully clap to direct the student to the right table.

Looking around, Alfred locked eyes with a particular set of green, eyes narrowing at the light amused smirk on the older student's face. He'd thought Arthur had been cool at first, but he'd ended up being super bossy, which annoyed the younger boy to no end. It was a shame, because Gryffindor had seemed like the coolest house, but there was no way he was gonna stay in the same place as Arthur for any length of time if he could avoid it.

With their last names being "Williams-Jones", the two were almost certainly last on the list, leaving them plenty of time to talk.

"Will we still be friends even if we're in different houses, right?" Matthew asked.

Alfred scoffed at the idea. "Of course we are! We're the bestest of friends forever."

Matthew smiled lightly. "Even if I'm a Hufflepuff?"

"There's no way you're gonna be a Hufflepuff. You're, like, super smart and sneaky! I bet you'll get into Ravenclaw with me!"

Matthew blinked. "I thought you were gonna be in Gryffindor."

"Yeah, well," Alfred shrugged, trying to pretend (poorly) that it was nothing. "I met one of the older kids and he was a real jerkface. I don't wanna be in the same house as him!"

Matthew nodded, although he was privately wishing he wasn't in the same house as Alfrd, as that would only end in them getting mixed up for seven more years.

Eventually it was just them, and Alfred was called up. With all the nervous energy he'd built up, the hat slid over his head, blocking the castle from view.

 _"Interesting…"_  A voice whispered in his ear, and he looked around before realizing it was the hat.

_"Well, aren't you a bright one? Most don't figure it out that fast. My first thought was to put you into Gryffindor, but you seem set against that."_

Alfred nodded, picturing that annoying smirk again.

_"I guess it can't be helped; hopefully you'll find yourself in good hands in RAVENCLAW!"_

Alfred grinned as the hat was pulled off, and without hesitation he'd gone back down the steps and settled into one of the seats, next to another first year who'd been sorted earlier - Ivan, maybe?

Matthew, meanwhile, now alone in the front, was much more nervous as the hat settled on his head.

_"I already had a sense of you from your brother, but you are definitely different than I expected."_

Matthew slumped a bit.  _I'm a Hufflepuff after all, aren't I?_

_"Quite the contrary; your brother was definitely not far from the mark when he expressed your intellect. However, I don't think the raven's house is the one for you…"_

Matthew's head lifted again, confused. It'd definitely be nice to be in a different house, but he certainly wasn't a Gryffindor…

The hat chuckled and spoke just as he was catching on.  _"I think you, Matthew, will find your own identity in SLYTHERIN!"_

When the hat was pulled off, he stumbled down the steps to the far side of the room, where he was greeted warmly - so different from the few stories he'd heard from other students - and given a spot to sit.

As he ate, his gaze unconsciously slid over to his twin's seat, wondering what the other boy thought of this. He knew his brother had taken to the stories of Gryffindor bravery against 'evil snakes', but would that change now that the other boy wasn't so enamored with the lion's house?

Alfred and another boy had locked glares, the two apparently having fought while he was distracted. Seemingly sensing his own gaze, Alfred turned from the match to look back at him…

and with a grin and wave, washed away any worries Matthew had.

His brother was right; no matter what houses they were in, they'd definitely be best of friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote these like months ago on tumblr but have only now gotten around to posting them here, whoops. In good news, my stupid projects are over and done with so I can actually get back to writing again! Whoo!


	15. So Much For Normalcy (Bodyswap Fic)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of a look at the 'Ivan and Alfred switch bodies for no reason' trope. For Reasons.
> 
> Posted June 11 2014

Like most people, Matthew Williams enjoyed sleep, especially at the end of a long, stressful work week. And, like most people, he did not appreciate being woken up in the middle of the night by the phone.

All things considered, he can be forgiven for sounding less than pleasant when he finally answered, eyes firmly remaining shut as he fumbled for the receiver before pulling it vaguely to his ear. " 'allo?"

"Oh thank god I thought you'd never pick up!"

He swore the voice was familiar, but he couldn't place it for a minute due to the odd tone. "...Ivan?"

"No, Mattie, it's me-"

"-do you even have any idea what time it is for me right now?" Matthew interrupted, unamused.

"-Yeah, I know, but this is-" Russia tried to continue, only to be interrupted again.

"-Not important enough to wake me up at fuck o'clock in the morning. Seriously, unless World War Three is starting, don't bother calling back until at least noon my time."

Just as he was about to press around for the off button, the most obnoxious noise known to man came over the line.

"But Mattieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee _eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee_ -"

If Matthew were more awake, he would have hung up in embarrassment and forgotten the whole odd incident. Seeing as it was just after two in the morning, and his sleep was continuing to be interrupted by the call, he didn't really think much of snapping out, " _Tabernac_ , shut UP Alfred, I swear to Christ you are obnoxious as fuck."

Before he could register his reply and fumble for a half-assed apology, the person on the other side of the line laughed in a half-panicked, half-relieved way. "Oh thank god, I didn't know if that'd work or not. Mattie, seriously, there's a huge problem."

"...Alfred?" Matthew was starting to wake up, frowning as his eyes finally opened. "Why do you sound like-"

"The commie bastard?" Alfred replied. "Probably because for some reason I woke up as him this morning and I'm trying not to freak out more than I already am?"

"Well, shit." Any chance of this being a prank had long faded from his mind - no one else on the planet could replicate the exact annoying tone Alfred used on him when he whined. It was probably a twin thing, actually. "Did you piss off Arthur again or something?"

"That's just it - if I had, I'd at least know why this happened and could fix it, but I haven't even  _talked_  to him for, like, two weeks, and when I called him he didn't sound hungover at  _all_."

Matthew sat up, rubbing at an eye and trying not to yawn. "Wha- what about Norway or Romania?"

A scoff came over the line. "Dude, when was the last time I talked to either of them?"

"No, I meant what if Ivan did something to make them target him, and you got caught up in it?"

A brief pause, during which Matthew couldn't hide a small yawn. "Sounds like a bit of a stretch to me, but I can call them up and ask. You should get back to bed, and I'll call you later if I have any more info."

Never had such an idea sounded better. "Why didn't you just do that in the first place, then, and waited for me to actually be awake?"

"Would you have heard me out if I hadn't?"

Matthew sighed. "Probably not."

A brief laugh came over the line. "Really sorry about that bro, and I'll make it up to ya when all of this is cleared up."

"Mmph, better be something good, or I'm siccing Nanuq on you."

"Apple pie, then?"

Matthew cracked a grin. An apple pie from Alfred? He would commit murder for that. "Sounds good."

"Go to bed then, and… thanks for believing me. Also, if Ivan calls pretending to be me, fuck with him a bit."

Matthew rolled his eyes. "Go make your calls and let me sleep, you ass, before I change my mind."

"Oh, shit, sorry- night, Mattie!" And with that the call ended, Matthew placing the phone back into its slot before rolling over and curling back into bed.

' _So much for a calm weekend,'_ he thought to himself before he slipped back into wonderful sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because seriously, why would Alfred even bother to hide it when he was bodyswapped with someone when it only makes it that much harder to change back? It seems a bit silly to me when he has the easiest backup imaginable in the form of his brother.
> 
> Well, at least when he can bribe him to help.


	16. Random Drabbles 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A third collection of random drabbly things! I just have way too many of these I think, whoops.
> 
> Posted July 26 2014

"You sure this is gonna work?"

"Hai, I already tested it, and it seems to be working as designed."

Alfred's lips curled into a mischievous grin as he held up the device. "Perfect."

No one else had noticed the two near the side of the room, busy with their own pre-meeting chats and catch-ups. Which was probably for the best, as they would have been more than confused over what the two were playing around with this time.

The American's gaze slid across the room, settling on one Nation in particular with a grin as he raised the device so that they were framed within the small screen. Both waited as the thing lit up in several spots, small text running along the bottom at an inhuman rate, before the screen briefly went rainbow.

"Well that was obvious, but it works." Alfred nodded his head, bringing it back down and pressing a few buttons to reset the screen to normal view before handing it over to Kiku. "Your turn."

"Hmm…" The Japanese man look around a bit before settling on another Nation, bringing it up to bear on them. The device repeated itself, eventually settling on a lighter blue-green.

Alfred whistled appreciatively. "Wow, wouldn't have called that one. Maybe those rumors about her and Nat aren't just bs after all."

Kiku very firmly did not think about that as he handed the device back, waiting for his friend to choose their next target. Of course by not-thinking about it so firmly, he failed to notice his brother approaching until he'd leapt on the smaller man with a whoop of laughter. "Another point for me, daze~!"

"Yong Soo! Hey!" The American greeted, holding the device where he'd been raising it to another unsuspecting target.

"What're you two doing?" The Korean man asked, looking at the device with unveiled interest.

"Ah, we were just-"

"Kiku and I designed this radar thingy that sees the other's sexualities, so we're testing it out before the meeting starts. Bluer means girls, redder means guys."

"Oh, oh, can I try it?" You'd hardly think he was several thousand years old from the way he bounced on his feet like a puppy, grin wide and hopeful.

With a laugh Alfred handed it over. "Have at it, bro."

Almost instantly it was brought up on an unsurprising Nation, Yong Soo rocking on his heels until the screen flashed blue-grey, causing him to stop and stare with a frown. "What does that mean? Did I break it?"

"Nah, it's cool." The American took it back when his friend offered it with a pout. "It'd probably do that for me, too. Now let's see…"

He brought it onto another Nation, thoughtful expression in place. When it settled on a darker orange, he rocked back with a brief laugh. "Fuckin' knew it. No way you can wear those pants and not be gay."

Both Asian men wisely decided not to mention Alfred's own… interesting wardrobe choices in the past, simply smiling and nodding along.

If any of the other Nations realized what the three were quietly laughing about together, they never brought it up.

~0~0~~0~0~

"Matt. Matt. Hey, you still up?"

"Mmmph," The Canadian groaned, blinking awake and wondering when he had started to doze off. He and Al had been playing Halo quietly since the others in the basement were all already asleep. He'd been a bit tired, but they'd been so close to the end he'd figured he could hold out for another half hour (as encouraged by his twin).

At least, until the power went out suddenly.

"C'mon, I got something I gotta show ya." Alfred continued, surprisingly quiet as he shook his brother's shoulder again.

"Can't it wait until morning…?"

"Noo, it'll be gone soon, so you have ta come now."

Matthew groaned, but knowing Alfred wasn't going to relent made him slowly crawl out from the blanket he'd curled up in. He followed his brother sluggishly over the other sleeping kids and up the stairs, Alfred shushing as he unlocked the front door and stepped outside.

"Look, Mattie!" He was bouncing on his feet as he kept glancing up.

And Matthew did, unable to stop gawking once he saw what his twin wanted him to see.

The night sky, without all the usual street lights to dim it to a flat gray, was filled with stars, including a softly glowing strip he only realized after a few moments was the Milky Way.

"This is…" Matthew could begin to describe it; he'd never seen the stars like this except in the space shows his brother liked to watch, and even then it hadn't really struck him that the images they'd showed were, well,  _real_.

Not like this moment had, anyways.

"Man, imagine if there'd been a meteor shower or something." Alfred laughed softly, raising his hands up as if to capture some of the lights for himself. "Too bad we can't see them like this all the time."

"Mmm."

"Hey, Mattie?"

"Yeah?" Matthew turned to his brother, who was grinning as he looked up.

"I'm gonna go up there someday. Just you wait - I'm gonna go to Mars and Jupiter and all over the universe, and I'll meet so many aliens that they'll have ta remember me forever."

Despite the extent of the claim, Matthew had no doubt his brother would do all that and more. Alfred didn't know when to give up, after all, and that would probably be more than enough by itself. "Be sure to bring me and everyone presents, then."

Alfred beamed brightly in the darkness. "You got it."

~0~0~~0~0~

"Cats locked in the basement?"

"Check."

"All the windows and doors shut?"

"Check and check."

Alfred hoisted the butterfly net he'd recovered from the back of the closet, serious expression in place. "Let's catch us Gilbird."

Matthew nodded, holding his own net firmly. "Remember, we can't hurt him at all or Gilbert'll be pissed."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," The American rolled his eyes. "Let's just get going before the guy actually gets here, or you get to explain how his 'awesome birdie friend' got loose in the first place."

"You're the one who opened the cage first…" The Canadian grumbled, but none the less he left through the hallway door, while Alfred went upstairs.

Fortunately for them, they'd stuffed the surprisingly crafty canary back into its cage just as the doorbell rang, though he'd laughed once he'd seen the condition the two were in. Needless to say, neither of them ever wanted to watch the bird again if they could avoid it.

~0~0~~0~0~

"Well, well, well," The captain's lips curled up into a smirk as he stared back at the man behind the energy barrier. "Look what ended up in my brig."

"Jones," the famed Captain Williams greeted flatly, unbowed by the rough treatment he'd gotten from some of the rival captain's more… enthusiastic crewmembers. "It's been a while."

"It has, hasn't it?" Captain Jones agreed. "I believe last time we met you almost cut me in half."

"Fair's fair; you nearly took my leg in payment."

The blue-coated captain just hummed in private amusement. "So, fair captain, what bring you to my little region of the star lanes, hmm?"

"Just visiting some family," the red-coated captain behind the barrier replied cheerfully considering. "Papa just hates it when I don't visit for his birthday, after all."

"Of course, of course," He'd heard Bonnefoy had been in the area as well, but had disappeared long before Alfred could confirm one way or the other. A shame - he'd almost been friends with the man once, back when they'd had a mutual grudge against Kirkland. "Family is important, after all."

"Speaking of family, how is the dear Captain Kirkland?"

Alfred scowled briefly, knowing the other was trying to rile him up. "I haven't talked to him in a while; he's been busy with his own business coreward."

Williams tilted his head slightly, an almost-sympathy. "What a shame."

"I suppose you could see it that way." His scowl turned back into a smile suddenly, startling the other captain's false smile away briefly. "I wonder, though, about your sudden burst of sentimentality."

Alfred stepped closer, the complete picture of innocence except the glint of dark humor in his eyes. "Of course, it has absolutely nothing to do with certain rumors floating about of some, ah, recently discovered wealth within  _my_ territory, would it?"

"Of course not," Williams agreed, a silent challenge in his gaze.

"That's good," Captain Jones leaned back slightly, arms loose and spread wide. "I'd hate to think of what would happen to you if you were to try anythin-"

An explosion rocked the ship, causing him to lose balance mid-sentence and for the barrier to flicker and die out. Before he could react the other captain was already moving, driving a knee into his stomach and knocking him back to the wall, winded and glaring.

Captain Williams simply blew him a kiss with a grin, twirling Alfred's gun around a finger. "The chat's been lovely, Captain, but I'm afraid my crew's gotten antsy without me. Perhaps we'll chat again sometime, non?"

And with that the red-coat was gone, leaving Alfred alone as the warning sirens blared, the sound of footsteps as his crew came to check on him ignored in favor of leaning back into the wall and laughing despite how it hurt.

"You win this round, Williams…"

~0~0~~0~0~

"Hey, Mattie?"

Matthew looked up from his homework at his brother. "Yeah?"

"Can- can we talk?" Alfred was shifting on his feet in the doorway, eyes glancing back as if he was worried their parents would overhear.

"Sure." He didn't think twice of turning off the music he'd been listening to and shutting the textbook, shoving away from his small desk to sit next to his brother, who had decided to flop over on the bed in the brief lull.

"…you know that girl that was crushing on me for the last month?"

The younger twin thought back, remembering a dark-haired girl - wasn't it Mei or something? - that was blushing and looking to Alfred a lot since school had started up again. "Mmhmm."

"Well, she asked me out on a date Friday, and I mean Dad was saying I should start looking at girls more, so I didn't think there was anything wrong with accepting, because she seemed nice enough, right?"

"Is that where you were Saturday, then? I thought you were at Kiku's."

"Yeah, well," Alfred blushed lightly. "We went down to that small cafe place near the arcade, and we talked for a bit about stuff while we ate. At the end of it she said she'd had fun and wanted to do it again, and then she kissed me."

"Was it bad?" It was the only reason Matthew could think of for why he'd be so upset about being kissed, especially by who the younger thought was a rather cute girl.

"No, no, it was fine, I just…"

"…just?"

Alfred mumbled something under his breath, blushing heavily.

"Al?"

"I just though it'd be nicer if it was Kiku instead."

THAT, needless to say, had not been expected. "What?"

The older brother looked away, still flushed. "That's what I thought too, but I didn't want to say anything, so I just said I'd think about it and got out of there as fast as I could."

Matthew frowned a bit. "Is that why you've been so quiet this week?"

Alfred nodded, ducking his head and bringing his knees to his chest. "I've been thinking about it, and I noticed that I only really - like looking at other guys. Like, I guess the girls are nice looking enough, but I don't really feel the same with them."

Oh.  _Oh._  Well. "Alfred…"

"I dunno how mom or dad or any of the others will feel if I- told them, so." He swallowed. "You don't think I'm weird, do you?"

Matthew shook his head, hugging his brother close. "Of course not; you can't help who you like. And I'll punch anyone in the nose who says anything bad about you for it."

"Even that Russian guy?"

"Even that Russian guy."

Alfred leaned into his brother finally, relaxing as all his concerns fell away. "Thanks, Mattie."

"No problem, Al."

~0~0~~0~0~

"Alfie?" The four year old tugged at his big brother's shirt.

"Not now, Matt." Normally Alfred absolutely adored having his little brother sticking close and looking up to him like he was the best and smartest person in the world, but right now the eight year old just wanted to be alone.

Matthew, however, was undeterred by his brother's gruff attitude, crawling up on the bed to sit next to him. "Alfie, why isn't papa home yet?"

The older boy stiffened, trying to hold back a sudden well of emotions threatening to overwhelm him again. "Ask dad."

"Daddy hasn't left his room, and the door won't open."

 _Gee, I wonder why,_  Alfred didn't have to wonder what was happening.

"Just let it go, okay? I don't wanna talk right now." Or ever again, really.

"But papa hasn't tucked me in and read me stories before bedtime in  _forever._ " The younger boy insisted, pouting. "And he  _never_  misses story time."

"Matt, just go away." God, why wasn't he  _getting_  it?

Matthew teared up at his brother's raised voice; he hated when people yelled, and Alfred almost never did it to him. "But I want papa…"

"Yeah, well, he's not coming back, because he's dead!" Alfred felt his eyes start to sting at that. "He'd gone a-and he's never comin' back and we're never gonna have him sing to us in French or keep dad from cooking or make us pancakes for breakfast ever again…"

He only realized he wasn't the only one crying when his little brother eventually crawled over to curl into his arms, pressing his face into his older brother's chest while he keened quietly. Alfred hugged his brother close, feeling guilty now for just yelling the truth like that, but there was nothing he could do now except hope one day things would be okay again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a collection of fills for prompts on got on tumblr. None of them are really super special, but I hope you enjoy anyways.


	17. Bleeding Heart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Based on a similar comic being kickstarted on tumblr a while back. 
> 
> Posted Aug 18 2014

"So there are wolves out there?"

Matthew glanced up from his book to his brother, who was looking out the large bay window at the dark woods some hundred yards away from the house. "Tons of them; I've lost almost all the chickens I brought with me and nearly Kuma as well before I decided to keep him inside."

"Woah…" Alfred's gaze never wavered. "You can't see anything at all out there. It's like the world just - ends or something."

"It's no better during the day," The Canadian admitted, "I haven't even gone near the woods yet. I don't even want to know what else might be in there besides the wolves."

"It's like something out of those old stories. You know, Frankenstein, Grimm's Fairy Tales, all those?"

Matthew's nose scrunched. "Thanks, that makes me feel so much better about being out here."

"You're the one who wanted to get away from the city and back to nature." The American pointed out, looking away from the view to laugh softly at his twin. "Besides, all those stories are cool, even if they're a bit freaky."

The other rolled his eyes, adjusting his glasses as he looked back to his book. "Only you would think being eaten alive is 'cool'."

"That isn't what I meant," Alfred's cheeks puffed out, tinged pink. "I just really find the myths interesting-"

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr..."

"Alfred, why are you growling?" Matthew looked up to his brother, who looked equally confused.

"I'm not growling, Matt, I thought it was you."

Before either could consider what that meant, there was a crack of lightning and a thud on glass, briefly illuminating a large shadowy beast in the middle of the window. Both of the men shrieked, Alfred all but leaping into his brother's lap and clinging tight as they stared wide-eyed at the beast.

"What is that thing?" Matthew squeaked, clinging just as tightly as they backed away from the window and the beast behind it.

"Well, it looks like a wolf, but its paws are all wrong, like they're human or something-" Alfred replied in an equally small tone.

"You mean that thing's a  _werewolf_?"

"That's all I can think of, unless you have other ideas."

From their slightly safer position in the doorway, the two were able to watch the werewolf slide down the window slowly, disappearing under the sill with a soft thud and leaving the two shaking and wondering if they'd imagined it all. But the dark stains on the window didn't disappear even as they approached.

"So, what the heck just happened?"

"I think it collapsed."

"What would make a werewolf collapse though?" Alfred asked as they peered over the sill, only to go silent. "...oh."

"That would probably do it." Matthew agreed.

A minute later they were outside, staring down at the wounded form of the werewolf with equal trepidation. "Is this normal around here, or…?"

The Canadian shook his head. "It's never happened before. I've seen a few rabbits like this, sure, but not wolves, and definitely not this."

He frowned, bending down to examine the wounds more closely and grimacing slightly as the smell started to reach him. "I don't think it's going to last much longer as it is, and I'm definitely not looking forward to whatever is going to try and come scavenge its body if we just leave it here."

Alfred pushed his brother away, getting close enough to guide a hand along the edges of the wounds. "Why did he come here?"

"Alfred, don't touch it, it's probably diseased or something-"

"Matt, look," The American interrupted, pointing out the blood trail leading from the darkness to their porch. "He was attacked out there and dragged himself all the way here. He had to have a reason."

Matthew shook his head. "It's a werewolf, I don't think it can reason all that well. Maybe its friends or pack or whatever didn't want to help it out."

Alfred missed most of his brother's reply, too busy noticing the werewolf had come to and was staring straight back at them. Even in the dimmer lighting he knew he could see a glimpse of something intelligent and aware back there-

"He came to us for help."

"What?"

Alfred pulled the wolf close, wide eyed and hopeful as he looked to his twin. "We have to help him, Mattie!"

"Hold on a second," Matthew's breath hitched when his gaze locked with the were's own. "I think there's a few things we need to think about before we do something like that-"

Despite numerous protests, the werewolf soon found itself relocated to the basement, sprawled on a pile of old linens and much less bloody than before, Matthew found himself with a new headache, and Alfred found himself a new project to invest his energy into.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there was this comic that just came up on my blog again, and I remembered how badly I wanted an AmeCan AU for it. So, having lacked the motivation to write anything else, I wrote this dumb thing instead. Just so you know, I headcanon'd the werewolf to be Arthur because those eyebrows man.
> 
> Also yes it mostly follows comic dialogue I am sorry I am such a cheapskate but I just wanted it written cries.


	18. A Bit Out of the Way

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes ones actions have have major consequences, even if you don't see them right away...
> 
> (some 2ptalia stuff)
> 
> Posted Sept 19 2014

"What is this place?" Alfred asks once they can speak again, blinking the last of the not-light from his vision.

"I don't know… it seems familiar, but I know I've never been here before…" Matthew responds, withdrawing his hand from the device that had brought them - wherever here was.

"You think this is another planet, maybe?" The American nation guesses thoughtfully, looking around. "You're right, though, it feels just a bit too familiar for that…but maybe-"

He doesn't finish, because there's suddenly a shout of warning, possibly to them, before something small and fast runs into Alfred's legs. It's a kid, small and shuddering and hiding behind him as an older kid approaches, looking entirely displeased with the situation.

"I told you not to run off!" The older boy tells the younger, stopping before the three of them. "You're my territory, and territory doesn't try and desert!"

" 'm not your territory," The boy clinging to Alfred's leg denies, peeking out enough to glare at the older. "I'm my own country and don't need you."

"Are these new countries or something?" Alfred whispers to his brother, looking much too confused. "Cause last I checked we weren't doing the whole colonizing thing anymore."

"Not that I know of," Matthew whispers back, equally befuddled. "That still doesn't tell us where we are though."

The older boy scoffs. "You wouldn't last a week without me protecting you, with all those Europeans sniffing around like they own the place."

"You're European too," The younger shoots back, still not moving. "You're no better than them to me or my people."

"I'm keeping you alive! They'll kill you when they find you, don't you get it?"

When the older boy grabs for the younger in frustration, Alfred finally steps in. "Woah, hey, no imperialism here."

The young Nation frowns up at him. "And who are you ta tell me what to do?"

"I'm the United States of America, sort of the most powerful country on Earth right now."

The reaction is unexpected. The two boys look to each other before looking back up to him suspiciously. "No, he's America."

Alfred moves to deny that, only for Matthew to intervene. "Then who are you?"

The boy puffs his chest, looking silly at his young age. "I'm the New Dominion of Canada, and you're keeping my territory from me."

Both elder Nations frown. "No way, Matt's Canada though- wait-"

"You don't think-" The Canadian brother is quick to catch on, knowing his twin's thought processes well.

"It's what makes sense-"

"But that's impossible-"

"We're talking about Tony though-"

"That's still extremely expensive-"

"You know our knowledge of physics is incomplete-"

Matthew groans, rubbing his face as a headache began to form. "I don't like this, Alfred, we need to get home as soon as we can."

"Yeah, well, you find a way to charge this thing up enough to get a message to Tony and I'm all for it." Alfred replies, showing off the device that now sat inert in his hand.

"I don't know who out guys are," the alternate Canada eventually spoke up. "But you're all coming with me until I can sort this out."

Alfred snorts, looking back to the young Nation. "Look, Mattie and I are busy figuring out a way to get home, you can go play empire elsewhere."

"Alfred-"

Canada, not appreciating the insult, moves forward to yank the American down to his level, only to be startled when not only does it fail to work despite his strength, but the older Nation casually pries his grip away with what can only be a fraction of his full strength given how he doesn't even struggle.

It scares the boy, and fascinates him, because before then no one he'd come across had challenged him so effortlessly. Whoever this Nation is, he's earned Alex's respect, however reluctant, as well as awoken a new desire to become strong enough to stand toe to toe with him.

Thomas, meanwhile, is coaxed away from the same older Nation by his brother, who kneels down to look him over and frown at the handful of tight gripped bruises. "I'm sorry about Al, he's just on edge because we're so far from home. He's usually pretty friendly."

" 's fine," The younger America replies, smiling hesitantly at the gentle touches and trying not to flinch. This older Nation is bizarre; there's the clear weariness of age in his eyes, but his smile isn't forced and there's no tenseness in his shoulders that marks one knowingly entering into foreign lands.

"Sweet" was not a word he could use to describe many people, but this person was definitely fitting of that definition. Maybe running to them on a stray instinct hadn't been a terrible idea after all.

~0~0~

The more Alex learned about Alfred and his world, the more intrigued he was. The very concept that a colony could not only fight against their mother country but win and go on to be so influential in the world was something he couldn't comprehend, but the proof was before him, so it had to be possible. From the way Tommy leaned forward with that grin that he'd started to pick up from the older Nation, the kid was getting ideas, not that Alex would let him do anything.

Democracy was good in concept, but riddled with flaws that could be fatal. It was something to keep in mind if a serious overhaul of governance was needed, but otherwise not too pressing to him.

Alfred's history was a lesson in hypocrisy and beating the odds, that much was sure. What Alex latched onto most was the tales of the Cold War, a war between two countries so powerful that if they had ever fought directly the world would have ended. So it became a game of intelligence and maneuvering, winning small victories and conceding others to aim for overall domination.

That the two had had so many resources to throw into their game of kings was insane, not to mention the sheer amount of effort that had gone into going to space - to the moon, with humans! - Alex couldn't ever imagine reaching a point here where a country would be willing to put so much into winning what wasn't even a proxy war.

The way Alfred's eye lit up when he described the program and the astronauts and scientists he had worked with to accomplish it all told him that for the superpower it hadn't been just about the war, but about pushing the limits, to taking risks for even greater rewards. And what rewards he described - marvelous technologies and wealth and prestige that Alex wanted to have as well one day.

But three hundred years was a long time to wait. And he wasn't Alfred - he didn't have the same sort of luck and natural wealth that the older did, not to mention he didn't think his world could ever hit those lucky circumstances that brought about a Cold War that could push him to his own limits and beyond.

He'd be damned if he would let that stop him, though.

~0~0~

Matthew was a lot like him, from what Tommy learned. Alex was much more interested in the other world's superpower - which made sense, because Alex wanted to be just as powerful one day. But Matthew, who had been less rebellious, who had grown in his brother's shadow only to develop his own name and voice and place in the world, was a lot more like his own life so far.

"Why don't you try to be a superpower, then, if your brother wouldn't stop you?"

Matthew sighed, looking a bit older as he answered. "Al doesn't show it, but being the sole superpower is stressful to a much larger degree than just being a country. You don't just worry about your own affairs, but those of everyone else as well. He stretches himself too far trying to protect himself and everyone else, and sometimes it gets to be too much for him."

Tommy frowned. "Then why does it do it?"

"Because he cares about everyone too much and wants to help them. It's why I'd prefer just sticking by his side when he needs help himself, because otherwise he'll run himself into the ground trying to push himself further and further."

The young Nation nodded slowly, looking down. "Do ya think I could have something like that someday?"

"I don't know," Matthew told him. "But if you have anything in common with Al, I know you'll manage something."

Tommy could easily believe him. With Alex, it wouldn't be easy, but if he could just find something he could hold against him, maybe he could still keep control of his own life.

~0~0~

Three hundred and fifty years was a long time to wait to reclaim something, but Alex had learned patience quite a while ago. Now, though, he could touch what was to be the future for his world and others, almost but not quite as expensive as getting the resources they lacked from space, and possibly just as dangerous depending on if this worked.

It was all about quantum physics, something he hadn't understood when Alfred had explained it, but now making so much more sense. And once it made sense, you could make use of all the potentialities provided by that tiny universe, including getting to others.

Normally the process of connecting was entirely random, an infinity of infinities of universes out there to discover. However, with objects of the right quantum signature you could visit the same universe again and again without worries, even target a specific point in time. And wasn't it so convenient that he just so happened to have a few items of a unique quantum signature on his person after all this time?

Alright, so he'd thought Tommy had been crazy for holding onto a few bullet casings, but Alex had been proven wrong, though that didn't mean the jerk was allowed to gloat. It might inflate his ego or something.

"Is it ready?" He asked.

"We can start the sequence whenever, sir."

Alex's smile was tight. "Do it."

~0~0~

Alfred knows there's something off from the moment he opens the door to his house. He can't place it right away, but he enters with a cautious step none the less. There's nothing out of place in the front hall, nor the living room, nor the kitchen.

When he looks up the stairs, though, there's someone looking back down at him, and it's not Mattie.

"Who are you?" He asks, though he thinks he almost knows-

"I'm hurt, Al; don't you remember me?"

Alfred rocked back, frowning in confusion. "Alex? But it's only been a year."

"It's been a lot longer than that for me. Almost four hundred years, in fact." Alex comes down the stairs with the casual gait of one who's come into quite a bit of power, standing just shy of Alfred's own six and something when they're face to face.

"Then how'd you get here?"

Alex smiles, and it's not entirely friendly. "You're the one who told me the secret; it's all quantum in the end. And China makes for an excellent rival to test myself against."

Alfred feels the edge of a challenge, and refuses to back down. "Then why here?"

"Because you're here," the Empire replies smoothly, like it's obvious. "You're the one who pushed me to be what I am; don't you think you deserve to know?"

"I didn't make you do anything."

"I know, but you showed me what I could be, and I decided it was worth the effort."

"Was it?"

Alex quirks a more honest grin. "I'm here now, aren't I?"

Alfred relaxes slightly. "I noticed that much."

"You know, you and Matt left without saying goodbye." The Empire steps forward, causing the Republic to step back before pausing.

"We didn't really get any warning before Tony pulled us back home," Alfred replies carefully, not sure if he wants to know where this is leading.

Alex leans close, still grinning. "I think you still owe us an apology."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah this felt really off to write and I was wondering why until my friend pointed out it was like I was leaning more to their Nation side for once than their human sides, which actually makes a lot of sense in the end. I'm just so not used to writing them this way though its really strange and not entirely IC even though it technically still is?
> 
> Wow I haven't updated this collection in forever because of Hero Training and Wereiness and Stargate whoops. I might try to start throwing more things in here when I can.


	19. Time Travel Shenanigans

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just some short ideas based on that old old travelling-to-the-past bunny of mine.
> 
> Posted Jan 16 2015

"So," Alfred commented idly. "Now what?"

"I don't even know anymore," Matthew mourned, continuing to stare at the now-drained watch in his hands as if it'd bring it back to life. The watch that was, in fact, a tiny modified time machine, courtesy of Tony, who had helpfully forgotten to mention that new feature when Alfred had finally rescued it after three weeks of it being missing.

"Hold on, lemme see it again," The American nabbed the watch, prying the back open and sighing in relief as he looked over what was inside. "Right, so the good news is that this'll recharge in just a couple weeks."

"You mean weren't not stuck here forever?" The Canadian perked up at that.

"Nah, but I still want to make sure I can adjust this the right way so we don't go even further back next time, or too far into the future or anything." Alfred shut the back, finger running over the small dials. "Right now, I don't even know when we are, so that's gonna be fun to adjust for."

"Maybe we can look around?" Matthew wondered. "There has to be someone or something around here that'll give us a hint."

"We could do that," Alfred agreed, odd expression crossing his face. "Or we could just asked them."

"Who?" Matthew turned to look behind him at Alfred's direction, feeling a strong sense of deja vu at the nearly matching duo in white peering up at them from some nearby foliage. "Oh."

"Dang, we were cute as kids," Alfred noted quietly to his brother. "No wonder everyone fussed over us so much."

"I'm pretty sure that was because we were resource-rich," Matthew corrected, though he had to agree with his twin's other assessment.

"Details," The American waved off, turning a grin onto the two kids. "Hey there, kiddos!"

"Hello," The tiny Matthew greeted after a bit. "Are you from Europe?"

"Ah, sure, let's go with that," The American agreed. "Are any of the others around right now?"

"No," Tiny Alfred responded, expression drooping. "Everyone else is busy across the ocean."

"Well, that sucks." Alfred frowned. "Say, since we're here for a few weeks, we could stay with you two if you like."

" _Alfred,_ " Matthew hissed to his twin. "The timeline!"

"Will be just fine," Alfred shot back. "I don't remember this happening, so it's probably a different timeline. Just roll with it, okay?"

"Fine," The Canadian groused.

"Would you?" Both of the younger twins looked hopeful.

"Of course," The elder Matthew smiled, hoping this wouldn't end in a mess for them all.

~0~0~

"Faster, faster!" The younger Alfred squealed, perched on his older counterpart's shoulders as they made laps around the lake.

"You sure you can handle it?" The elder Alfred asked with a grin, glancing back.

"Yeah!"

"Then let's do it!" The American put on more speed, nowhere near close to how fast he could go when pushing himself but still a fair click by almost any definition. The younger cheered again, clinging on tight as they hopped over the creek feeding it. The two Matthews stayed to the side, the elder showing the younger the best way to skip rocks.

"Like this, see?" The older Canadian showed, flicking his wrist and sending his rock bouncing a dozen times across the surface.

The younger concentrated, bringing his arm back before throwing it, the rock wobbling as it hit the water, bounced once, and sank from view. "I did it!"

"Nice job," Matthew approved. "You'll get better with practice, I'm sure."

Alfred skidded to a stop nearly, breathing a bit heavily from the run. "Whew, that was fun, but I think it's time for a break."

"Done already? You're starting to get out of shape," His twin teased, the southern twin replying with a rude gesture and a glare.

"I'm hungry…" The younger Alfred whined as he clambered down to the ground, punctuating it with a growl from his stomach. "Can we go home and eat?"

"Sure, that sounds fine," Matthew agreed, feeling a bit hungry himself. "Do you two want to lead us there, since we're new here?"

"Okay!" The younger twins chirped together, taking off towards their house while the elder Nations followed at a more casual pace.

~0~0~

"Were we really this trusting as kids?" Alfred wondered quietly, watching the sleeping forms of their younger selves curled up together on the large bed.

Matthew turned slightly to look at his twin. "I think we were just that lonely."

The American grimaced. "Yeah, the others really weren't around that much, were they?"

"Busy with their politics and wars," Matthew shook his head. "It's a wonder we managed as well as we did on our own."

"Well, we at least had each other," Alfred mused. "That helped more than anything, I think."

"Yeah, we did, didn't we?" The Canadian grinned softly. "And so do they."

The southern twin matched it. "Geography has made us neighbors and all that."

Matthew laughed despite himself. "Way to make it sound unimpressive."

"Hey, it's the thought that counts, right?"

"Of course, Al. C'mon, lets let them sleep while we work on our other project."

The American laughed as he complied. "Jeese, so bossy, Mattie."

They closed the door, unaware of the curious, tired gazes watching them go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I randomized a continuation or whatever of my first ever Hetalia plot bunny, aka the time travel to the past one. Sort of more of a lighter-hearted rewrite than anything, but hey, it's something at least. I might write more in the future, I don't know, we'll just have to wait and see I guess.


	20. The Journal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Matthew stumbles across the journal of a WW2 pilot, and decides to give it a read...
> 
> Human AU set in the 90s (for Matthew anyways)
> 
> Posted April 30 2015

Matthew wasn't fond of summer in the States at the best of times, what with it being far hotter than he'd grown up with in northern Ontario, and the current heat wave only made it more miserable. Between that and the lack of weekend plans, he really hadn't had much reason to leave his new house, leaving him bored enough to start cleaning out the attic in case the previous owners had left anything interesting or useful.

All he'd found in the end was a lot of dust, some old books, a box of clothes dating back to lord knew when, and a broken mirror that would have looked nice downstairs in the front hall if it hadn't been so damaged. Not a huge haul, but then again he hadn't been expecting much to be left behind in the first place.

Oh well. At least he had space up there now for whatever he felt like storing up there, even if he didn't have much to his name as of yet.

With a bit of clever maneuvering he was able to get the box of books out of the attic and dusted off, the cardboard having seen better days as he cracked it open again to browse through the collection inside. Most of the books were still in good condition, allowing him to set them to the side to put on one of the bookshelves later, while a few were damaged by water or bugs to uselessness, forcing him to toss them out.

The last book, stuffed into the side corner, turned out to not be a book at all, but a journal. An old one at first glance, only confirmed when the earliest date mentioned by the writer was April 1937. Maybe this belonged to a relative of the old family? It was a shame he couldn't contact them, because this seemed like something they wouldn't have wanted to leave behind.

...not that he knew for sure they'd care one way or the other, but it was a shame to him at least. Matthew set it apart from the others, figuring he'd at least glance through it that evening after he finished cleaning up and putting away the other books.

He forgot about it for nearly a week - having gotten caught up in reading one of the old novels until dinner and the rest of his weekend chores, then a long week at the library reorganizing an entire section after a frantic finals week at the nearby college - only to rediscover its resting place on the living room table when he was sat down with a late dinner that Friday.

"Huh, I forgot about you…" Matthew muttered, flipping the cover open with one hand and rereading the first entry of the boy from Manhattan who just wanted to help his family in the aftermath of the Depression.

He set it down again in order to eat, but his curiosity remained piqued throughout the meal, bringing him back to his chair and the journal almost as soon as he'd put his dishes in the sink to soak. He hesitated briefly about going through someone's journal, before deciding that if nothing else it was better than it being forgotten completely, and that perhaps once he finished he could see if there were any archives collecting this sort of thing for historical preservation.

(If nothing else, he could just hold onto it, but as he wasn't family it didn't feel quite right to just keep it to himself.

...He'd think of something eventually, probably.)

It was getting late by the time Matthew hit the final page, describing Alfred's thoughts on his next mission, a flight out over Germany to take out some factories in the eastern part of the country. He paged through the rest of the book, but either Alfred failed to continue writing in it afterwards - perhaps having lost track of it for a while? - or else… well…

It wasn't an issue either way. Reading Alfred's retellings of his life up to and including his joining the air force was intriguing, and he found himself wishing that he could have met the man, if only to see how he'd come out of the war. Ah well, that was fifty years ago - if he were still alive, he'd be well into his seventies by now, not to mention he could be anywhere in the country at this point, or even outside of it.

Whatever the case, it was late, and he could worry about the fate of the old journal tomorrow.

~0~0~

_He was in a warzone._

_He was in a warzone, and he didn't know how he'd gotten there, but a fuzzy part of his mind was telling him this couldn't be real, although he couldn't really hear it over his confusion._

_Someone stomped to a halt in front of him, pulling his attention up from his huddling spot on the floor. "What are you doing here?" The soldier asked, disbelief in his tone. "There shouldn't be any civilians here."_

_He shook his head, unable to find his voice, and the man sighed before crouching down. "C'mon, let's get you out of here before the place gets shelled."_

_He stumbled to his feet, walking with the grace of the shambling dead as the soldier half-carried him out of the room he'd apparently been in, keeping their heads low and steps as quick as possible as they walked. Their pace picked up as something whistled and a muted explosion rang from down the hall, startling them both._

" _C'mon, c'mon, almost there" The soldier muttered, right before his eyes widened as they reached the outside. "Shit, get down-"_

Matthew shot awake, heaving heavily as his mind slowly reacted to the reality of his plain, boring, safe bedroom, far away from any sort of battlefield or bombs or whatever else. Taking deep breaths to calm himself, he decided that even if he had the option he was not going to read anything else about the joys of war right before bed.

Shoving himself out of bed, he shuffled over to the bathroom, splashing himself with water to wake up the rest of the way before making his way back into his bedroom on the way out to the hall towards his coffee machine, recalling only after a few seconds that his digital clock had a red glow, not blue.

He turned back on his heels in the doorway, but there was no blue glow, just the dawn's faint light starting to peek through his window and onto the uniform of-

"-huh?" Matthew asked dumbly, staring at the man who looked just as utterly confused as he felt, only much more dangerous because those weapons were certainly real, and certainly loaded, and certainly pointed at him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Older idea of mine, where Matthew stumbles across an old journal for a WW2 pilot Alfred and, after reading through it, wishes he could have met the man because he sounded, well, interesting, only to have it actually granted in the most surreal way possible – Alfred bring brought forward through time via the journal.
> 
> From there its a struggle to find a way to get Alfred back to his own time because he's out of place here and who knows how things might change if he isn't there to do whatever he needed to do, and at some point Matthew might end up a bit fond of the guy but they succeed eventually in getting him home so that all will be well.
> 
> It's a bit oddball sure but I feel like not a lot of time travel fics on here focus on how much the person who traveled might miss their own time, where they had families and loved ones and all of that. This is sorta my way to fix that, but IDK if or when I'll get around to a full fic.
> 
> (Set in the 90s because there wasn't the magic googlebox in order to just look up people, which is part of the drama because Matthew can't know how Alfred's life was supposed to go originally or what happened after he got home.)


	21. Random Drabbles 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alfred, Kiku, and Yong Soo all share a similar weakness for cute animals.
> 
> Posted May 15 2015
> 
> Updated July 31 2015

"Hey, guys, check this out!"

Those words were the basis of the friendship between Alfred, Kiku, and Yong Soo, all of whom shared a similar passion for the wonders of the internet and the things people shared across it.

More precisely, the millions upon millions of images, videos, and livestreams of adorable animals being ridiculous, from newborns to adults to the elderly and all in between. No cat video would not be shared on facebook, no puppy bowl unrecorded and saved onto their tablets, and no livestream unlinked. Quite frankly, they were the best escape from the drag of politics imaginable, and didn't require any translation in order to convey the joke - animals were just plain adorable and enjoyable across all cultures.

(Except maybe the Russians, but they were horrible frosty funsuckers anyways.)

In this case, it was Alfred uttering the words, bouncing on his feet as he turned his tablet around to show the stream of a goose tending to her little goslings. He followed it with the exclamation of, "They hatched today! I dunno if you guys got my text on it but they totally hatched this morning and are adorable yo!"

"They're so cute!" Yong Soo exclaimed as he nabbed the tablet, cooing over the goslings while grinning widely.

"She must be a very proud mother," Kiku solemnly proclaimed, though he wasn't trying to hide his own smile at the news and sight.

"The pops too," Alfred pointed out the second goose hovering nearby. "They're probably gonna get helped down tomorrow once the kids are ready, which we're gonna miss because it's in the middle of the meeting which sucks."

"There will be other chances," The Japanese Nation comforted. "If it makes you feel better, I found a new stream with a mother cat and her week old kittens."

The other two turned to him with tearful gleams, not even needing to utter a word as Kiku pulled out his own tablet, went to the bookmarked page, and turned the screen around so they could see the children mewling as they shoved each other for access to their mother and food source.

"D'awwwww," They cooed together, lighting up further as one of the kittens took a small tumble and cried piteously afterwards.

"We should so go back to one of those cat cafes, by the way," Alfred decided, straightening up as the idea struck him. "I think I spent the next week relaxed after a few hours in there, and I had to deal with Congress three times!"

"I'll see what I can arrange, but it might be a while."

"Oh, oh!" Yong Soo perked up as well. "I just remembered because I've been really busy the last couple of days, but there's this lady who lives just down the street from me whose dog just had puppies, and they were so cute! I got to spend half an hour playing with them before I had to leave, and it was the best! But it turns out one of my important politicians is allergic to dog hair so I'm not allowed to play with them anymore right before I have an important meeting."

"You can always go after meetings, right?" Alfred offered. "I mean, since you're heading home anyways, it's not like you can't stop by and say hi."

"I know, but my bosses are so exhausting," Yong Soo stuck his tongue out. "Things were so much easier when I only had to deal with one."

"Someday it'll get better," Alfred gave his friend a gentle pat on the back before changing the subject. "Sam said that the horses on the ranch should be dropping foals soon; you guys wanna come by and see them and maybe help name them?"

They gave him looks as if he were stupid for even thinking they'd deny the chance, replying together, "Of course!"

"I get first dibs!" Yong Soo proclaimed.

Kiku gave him a dirty look, which motivated Alfred to step in before things got nasty. "Sorry, guys, but Sue has first dibs this time. Girlfriend privileges and all that. I'll see if Sammy's open to ideas for the others though, so just send me some texts with ideas and I'll forward them to him, alright?"

They both smiled and nodded, Alfred sighing in relief at the near miss.

Animals may overcome cultural barriers, but that didn't keep other differences from getting in the way sometimes.

~0~0~

This was a trap, it had to be, it'd fit right into everything else that had happened so far. Arthur took a breath, trying to decide whether risking it was playing right into the perpetrator's hands or if just giving up on the whole ordeal would be the wiser move.

He grit his teeth and straightened. He was the bloody country of England and de facto representative of the United Kingdom, and he would not be intimidated by some random arse who didn't even have the guts to own up to their treachery!

...but he would still open the door cautiously, because doing otherwise was just stupid.

Glancing up as it creaked open to see no buckets or balloons or anything else was one relief, as was the lack of string or resistance to the door opening. Sure, they might have the stairwell trapped, but at least he was getting out of his room intact toda-

A screech rang down the hall, Alfred muffling his laughter as he checked off another line on his list. He still had half a dozen to set off today before the meeting, and he didn't want to linger long enough for Arthur to get out of the leg noose trap planted right outside his door and come storming for vengeance. Honestly, this was the most fun he'd had in ages, and even though he knew an opportunity wouldn't come again for years at the least, he would always be able to cherish the memories of this week during his down times.

Another scream rang from a different hall, Emily pelting around a corner and hitting the wall next to him while panting and grinning like a loon. "Got all three of them in one go, bonus points for me."

"Nice job," Alfred grinned as well, bumping her shoulder lightly. "I'm still one ahead though, so your next couple better be good too."

"Please, you know I'm saving the best for last," She stuck her tongue out before laughing. "We should get back to the room before the others realize we're not accounted for. You got the paint balloons set up yet?"

"Yup, as soon as I set up the last piece they'll trigger the next time we open the door. Hope you're up for being bright orange today."

"I'm fine with that, since I'll be able to wash it out later. That reminds me, nice job getting to Francis' shampoo, the red hair goes great with the feathers and glue."

Alfred beamed. "It worked? I wasn't sure if he'd use both the shampoo and conditioner, since that's what triggers the color change, but I guess he always has to have his neat hair even during a prank war."

"Doe he even know this is a prank war?" Emily wondered, nudging him to come with her as they made their way back to their room.

"I think a few people should have caught on by now," The American decided after a bit of thought. "Just not by who, since we've made sure to get each other as well."

"We're probably still top contenders, though, but at least there's some suspicion on others as well," She sighed, running her hand through her hair since it would soon be a mess of paint.

"Hey, even if we do get caught, it's been hella fun so far, right?"

The Canadian laughed, resting a hand on the doorknob while glancing to the setup just across the way. "That it definitely has. Maybe your ideas aren't all crazy after all."

"I'm gonna take that as a complement."

~0~0~

"You guys don't have to be here, you know," Emily replied from behind her knees, arms wrapped around her legs as she made herself as small as possible on the couch.

"Of course we did," Anri replied, setting her stuff down alongside the other bags. "We're your friends."

"And brother," Alfred replied from the kitchen, drawing a brief roll of eyes from the rest of the impromptu group that'd shown up at her doorstep.

"And that means when one of us gets dumped, the others come to help cheer them up. Preferably through lots of junk food, bad movies, and a sleepover," She finished.

"I don't know if I have enough food for everyone," Emily protested weakly. "Or enough space."

"All of us brought sleeping bags, and Alfred brought food since he knows you best," Irunya informed her, moving past them on her way to help in the kitchen. "It would be rude of us to eat your food without permission after all."

"You get to call the shots, though, since you're the one who needs the distraction," Angelique finally spoke up, digging through her bag before pulling out a few DVDs triumphantly.

"So what'll it be?" Maria finished, leaning over the back of the couch to try and get a read on the Canadian's mood.

Emily sighed, not really sure what she wanted to do right now. She honestly had just planned on taking a week off to work through her feelings on the issue on her own before heading back to work, because really it was just a break up and those happened to a lot of her people and did it really matter if she had residual feelings for him if she didn't let it affect her work?

Still, it'd be easier to humor them for a day than to try and get them to leave, and she did admit she'd do the same for any friend going through the same thing, so it was silly to refuse the same when they were just trying to help. "I guess we could watch a movie then…"

"English or French?" The Seychellian asked, walking over to offer the ones she'd brought with her. "I brought some of each, but we can watch something you own, too."

The Canadian brought a hand around, pressing a thumb to her lips in thought. "French, I think, but I'm not picky really, as long as it's mindless."

"Right, I'll set it up then!" Angelique grinned, restacking the cases before moving around the couch to start turning on the equipment and setting up the movie.

"Hey, what snacks do ya want, Em?" Alfred called out. "I've got donuts, ketchup chips, pretzels, or I can whip something up on the stove."

Emily thought on that for a bit longer, eventually deciding on, "I'd like something warm if possible. I… sort of forgot lunch."

Of course this was too quiet for her brother to hear, being mumbled into her legs and all, but Maria caught in all and nodded, pushing herself up before turning and cupping her mouth to shout back. "Something hot and filling; says she didn't eat lunch."

"Got it!" Came the fast reply, the stove fan coming on soon afterwards as he started cooking.

"Huh, apparently he is useful for something after all," The Mexican woman marvelled, grinning when she turned back to see the mildly disapproving look at the comment. "I'm not gonna get into a fight with him; we're both here for you, and besides, I've been getting on with him better lately."

Emily nodded, allowing herself to start to uncurl after Anri came back with a blanket to drape over her. Grabbing onto the soft fabric and pulling it around herself, she let slip a small smile, grateful for the stubborn companionship of her friends even as some shouting rose up from the kitchen over the exact nature of the upcoming meal.

(Thankfully, her brother had apparently won out with KD, and she had to admit, the cheesey goodness combined with a hokey anime, the warm arm around her shoulder, and the bunching of the others around her, left a warm, tingly feeling in her chest.

She wouldn't forget about him today, but she could set it aside for a while without guilt now.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Random stuff too small to stuff into their own chapters forever. Not inclined to expand on any of these right now.


	22. A Week's Paid Vacation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes you just have to help a friend out.
> 
> Nyo!Ame, Ame Can Tai friendship
> 
> Posted July 2 2015

"Hey, Mattie?"

Matthew glanced over to his sister, who was biting her lip thoughtfully at she glanced to the side of the room away from the podium where Belgium was speaking. "Yeah?"

"Do you think Mei's been looking a little under the weather lately?"

The Canadian briefly looked over to where Eleanor was looking, seeing said Asian Nation sitting alongside the rest of her family and paying attention like most of the others. A closer look showed her pen was moving halfheartedly and that there looked to be bags under her eyes, although it was hard to tell from here. "...yes, looks like it."

Eleanor leaned back, frowning thoughtfully as she looked back to Belgium momentarily. "You think her boss is overworking her again?"

Matthew sighed softly enough that she didn't hear. "I don't know; it could be any number of things going on in her life."

"Mmm…" The American hummed discontently, tapping her pencil against her notes before looking back to him. "Think we should do something for her?"

"Like what?"

"Y'know, a week's paid vacation or something on us. Just tell her boss we wanna talk some trade stuff or something, then just let her spend the time shopping or getting a massage or whatever she needs before bullshitting some small things our bosses won't get too prissy over."

Matthew pressed his lips together, thinking about it. On one hand, Mei was a friend of theirs, even if they spent more time with her brothers overall, and he did think giving her a chance to relax was kind in theory, but he really wished his sister hadn't sprung this on him so suddenly, because he wasn't sure what he could offer on such short notice. "Fine, but if we get in trouble-"

"-it's my fault, yeah yeah," The superpower waved his concern off, grinning. "I'll chat with her after this and see if she's up for it. You think of a good place to take her for dinner, alright?"

Matthew sighed. "Alright, though I don't know why you're pulling me into this…"

Eleanor blinked. "Because we're taking her up to your place, duh! Don't want the others tracking her down while she's on break, right?"

The Canadian just groaned and let his head drop, because he really should have expected his sister to drop all the responsibility on him without thinking about it by now.

~0~0~

Matthew took the opportunity to organize his papers while Eleanor was busy charming up Mei for the impromptu gift vacation, figuring if he was playing host for the next week he wouldn't have too much time to do that. He supposed it'd almost be a vacation for himself, too, only he was probably going to be doing whatever the other two wanted instead.

(Seriously, if he didn't love his sister so damn much…)

"Mattie!" Eleanor greeted him cheerful as she returned, Mei at her side looking a bit less enthused but still smiling. "Let's get going before Yao tries to corner me again, because I'm really not up for another boring lecture about money and shit, 'kay?"

Matthew shook his head with a small laugh, waving his sister ahead while following behind at a more leisurely pace, Mei choosing to stick by his side. "Did she rope you into this too?"

"Sort of," He replied, shrugging his shoulders. "But I don't mind much - I do agree you look like you could use the break, but I would've liked to have had a bit of warning before she went through with things."

"She can be fairly forceful, can't she?" Mei laughed quietly.

"That's one way to describe it," Matthew agreed. "Keeps life interesting, if nothing else."

"I can see that," Mei glanced to Eleanor thoughtfully.

"C'mon you two, we have a flight to catch!" The woman in question turned to look at them, exasperation written all over her stance and features as she kept moving backwards. "Pick it up!"

The two exchanged looks, speeding up just a little and drawing a roll of eyes from the American before they finally escaped the building without running into anyone else.

(How she got three first-class seats on such short notice was a mystery, but Matthew wasn't going to complain.)

~0~0~

"You know, this has been a lot of fun," Mei, looking far more rested and alive after five days of solid sleep plus relaxation activities, told the other two with a smile as she leaned back in her chair, one of the women working on her nails chatting away with her on the side cheerfully in Mandarin Chinese. "Thanks for inviting me out."

"Pshaw, wasn't no trouble at all," Eleanor replied from her other side, biting back a laugh as another woman scrubbed at her feet. "You're our friend, so of course we're gonna help you out."

"Still, I didn't think anyone would notice - that means a lot to me."

"Glad to have been of service," Matthew grinned at her from his own seat, having chosen to at least get his nails cleaned up even if he was forgoing the paint - after all, the arm and leg massages were certainly nothing to turn down when the alternative was sitting awkwardly in one of the waiting chairs reading gossip rags or worse, waiting outside in the summer heat.

"I'll have to make it up to you two sometimes," Mei decided, closing her eyes in thought. "I'm not sure how yet, but I'll think of something."

"Don't worry about it," Both Matthew and Eleanor replied, laughing at the coincidence before the American continued."We didn't do this to earn favor points or whatever, so don't feel like you have to pay us back."

"If you're sure…"

"We're sure," The Canadian promised.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a short piece since I wasn't sure what other scenes to add. Maybe you guys have suggestions of things they can do that I can write up after this month is over (or at least next week)?


	23. Lost Journal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Matthew had no clue what it was at first, to be absolutely fair.
> 
> fem!Ame, human AU
> 
> Posted July 5 2015

"What's this?"

Looking back on the incident later, Matthew couldn't decide whether it was a good thing or a bad thing he'd been late coming back from his evening class, thus being the only one passing through the student lounge when he noticed the notebook halfway under the couch.

Though he was new to the college and its dorm system, his neighbors all seemed to be friendly enough, if weird as all get out, and his roommate was rather perky when she wasn't rambling on about scifi alien quest campaign thing. As such, he tried to help around and do things like prep the coffee maker if he was the first up in the morning, help clean up after the parties the Germans down the hall liked to throw, and occasionally share the cookies he made when he was studying for a big test to snack on.

(Apparently the cookies had been enough to start an impromptu study club in the lounge whenever he made them. Maybe Francis had been onto something when he'd said food made more friends than grades or sports after all.)

(Not that hockey or his teammates weren't important as well.)

Returning to the point, he was late, so he'd figured at the time that someone had just forgotten their notebook for the evening and that he could simply check whose it was and return it to them before he went back to his room to shower and fall into bed. Pulling it out, he'd noted it looked a bit beat up and worn, and also had no name on the outside indicating a class or teacher or name of any kind.

Cracking open the covers also showed no sign of a name, and at that point he was more than a bit confused, and so decided he could at least take a stab at the class and guess whose it was from there. And then abruptly slammed the book shut, not reading past the first couple of lines.

'Stupid therapy journal. Stupid therapist. I dunno how this is supposed to help me 'get over things' when it's just a bunch of paper all held together with glue and more paper.'

Shit fuck damn  _tabernac_ , this was a  _diary_. A  _therapy_  diary. And Matthew was not going to pry under any circumstances, because whoever this belonged to would not want people sniffing around their personal lives like this. Really, he just needed to find the owner as soon as possible and-

...shit, he had no idea who it could be, because a) he didn't know any of the people in the dorm  _that_  well, and b) the only answer would probably be inside the thing, which would c) require him to pry after all, even if it was just the last page.

God _damnit_. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, glancing around and realizing that even if he was alone, this place was still too public and he didn't want to answer any awkward questions if someone just happened to come by at the wrong moment. Grabbing up his own books as well, he hauled them all into his room and dumped them on his bed, pulling out the diary again with a strong upwelling of guilt at even this.

Taking a deep breath, he opened his eyes again and opened it to the back, slowly flipping forward until he hit the last entry, dated to that morning.

" _So apparently my roommate has a twin brother, if the picture I saw on his laptop means anything. Otherwise he's got a weird fetish for guys with the same face as himself, not that there's anything wrong with that. Man he's so lucky, though - I've always wanted a little brother or sister, but I guess having crappy parents doesn't help much with that. On second thought, maybe it's a good thing they didn't, because I'd hate for another kid to have to deal with them._

" _I just wish I could actually get him to talk more, ya know? I mean, a guy who plays hockey on the side while he majors in journalism has to have a story, especially since I snuck into one of his practices and damn can he throw a punch. Like, this was Mike Tyson levels of incredible. But he almost never talks during our dorm meetings, just sits back and listens and makes those awesome cookies (note to self - learn that recipe cause Abby will kill for them)._

" _Ah well, maybe I'll ask later if he's not asleep when I get back. I'd really like to-"_

The entry cut of there, looking like she - and he definitely could guess whose it was now, since he was the only one he knew who had a twin brother - had scrambled to put it away, perhaps dropping it when she'd left for class. Matthew closed the book and sighed, wondering what he was going to do now.

...well, at the least there was one thing he could do right.

~0~0~

Eleanor bit back a frustrated scream as she almost slammed into the room, trying not to wake up Matthew with her growing panic. Damnit, she knew she should've checked to see if she'd had all her things before she left, but she'd been late to class as it was and the test had been way too important to leave just so she could find her diary. Right now she was seriously regretting it, because she couldn't find it anywhere in the lounge and couldn't be sure who'd found it, not to mention asking around about it would certainly let them know it was hers and if they'd read it-

She choked back tears, praying to god she wouldn't end up having to drop her classes and move if rumors got out about her past, because there was a reason she'd taken her uncle's offer to get the heck out of dodge and move to the other side of the country where her parents couldn't track her down as easily, if they cared enough to try. Opening the door to her bedroom, she tossed her backpack to the side and glanced up, only to suck in a breath.

Her journal was on her bed, a single folded piece of lined paper sitting on top. Shakily, not daring to believe she was this lucky, she grabbed the note and exhaled in relief.

" _I found this under the couch and thought it was a notebook, so I looked inside. Don't worry, I didn't look past the first three sentences and the last entry, and I'm not planning on letting anyone know about it. Sorry about that, by the way - there wasn't a name, and I didn't want to just ask around, especially with something so personal."_

There was no name offered, but Eleanor had a good idea of who it might be, considering only one other person had the key to their room, and he was likely asleep in the other bedroom. Maybe her luck was really turning around, after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a short piece, because while the prompt asked for Matthew to actually read through the journal, I felt that that was a) rude and b) out of character, so he only did enough peeking to realize who it was and return it. Eleanor's still thankful either way, so yeah.


	24. Journey to the Stars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alfred expected adventure, but found something equally interesting along the way...
> 
> Treasure Planet AU
> 
> Posted July 6 2015

When he'd been offered the chance to live a life of adventure as well as the prospect of earning enough payment to write off the entire debt his dad owed for the restaurant, Alfred had leapt at it, figuring his brother would forgive him once he returned with awesome stories and a few small gifts.

Funny how in all the stories they'd read as kids, they never once mentioned the tedium that was star travel; even with faster than light engines, the distances between stars was huge, and chores needed to be done to keep everything running smoothly, which was why Alfred was now cleaning the deck on his own. He groaned, leaning against the rail as he looked out over what he'd managed so far and what he had left to do before dinner came around.

"Stupid mop," He grumbled under his breath. "Stupid captain. I bet I could build a robot to clean all this so I wouldn't have to."

...not that there were any sort of spare parts he could use to do so. Nor was his history of tinkering the greatest - more than one had accidentally exploded or burnt out randomly, to the point that his dad had just accepted the incidents with a weary sigh and a demand to clean it up. Now it would totally work out, though, because he was seventeen and much better than he was as a kid, for sure!

The clomp of boots on the deck startled him out of his thoughts, causing him to jump up and look over to the newcomer. He kept looking up, because the man who'd arrived was well over a head taller than him, practically glowering down through his glasses at the younger. What had the captain's aide said his name was again - Berwald Oxen-something?

"Ah, I wasn't slacking off, promise, I was just trying to see where I'd missed…" Alfred trailed off, noting the expression hadn't changed at all even as the man glanced around the deck himself.

"...you're cleaning this by yourself?" He asked, accent thicker than Alfred expected.

"Yeah, well, I might've annoyed the captain, I think," He admitted, still a bit baffled as to how a comment on her hair at breakfast had annoyed her so much. Mattie hated going out with messy hair, and his hazy memories of his maman had been similar, so he figured others with long hair might be the same. So much for that theory, apparently.

"Everyone's done that once or twice, don't feel too down over it," Berwald replied. "I'm impressed you managed this long before doing so."

"Thanks, I guess…"

The man turned to lean on the railing, glancing out at the stars slowly shifting past them. "I'm surprised you managed to actually convince her to take you on; usually she doesn't take on kids."

"I'm not a kid," Alfred protested. "I'm seventeen."

"I didn't say that was a bad thing," He continued, glancing over to Alfred with the smallest of smiles which somehow managed to make him a lot less threatening. "When I was your age, I was part of one of the greatest pirate gangs in the inner systems, almost always getting in and out before the local guard could respond in force."

"You were a pirate?" The younger asked, a bit awed now.

"You heard of the Vikings?" Berwald asked in turn.

"Yeah, I think my dad said they were pretty infamous when he was a kid."

He nodded. "Me, Mathias and Lukas were the leaders. Best friends I ever had, and damned good at watching my back when things got rough. We did the impossible, drunk on spoils and victory. We thought we were invincible."

"...then what happened?" Alfred asked, seeing the other sigh and close his eyes.

"Lukas got killed on a raid gone wrong. We blamed each other and went our separate ways, our crews leaving soon after that because we just couldn't manage anymore." He looked back to Alfred, shrugging. "I decided to retire after that, figuring with the money I had stored up I could at least live comfortably, even if I got bored after a while."

"What made you come out of retirement then?"

"The captain tracked me down; still not sure how, she won't give me her contacts. Said that since I was one of the only ones who still knew the back ways through some of the more dangerous sectors, she needed me to navigate so that her crew had a better chance of getting out of this intact."

"Huh." Alfred looked out to the starry sky, not really sure how to respond to that at first. "You know, you're pretty cool for an old pirate guy."

"I suppose you aren't too bad for a kid either," Berwald replied, smiling a bit more when the younger squawked in protest. "Still have a lot to learn, though."

"Yeah yeah," Alfred grumbled. "I'll get better, you'll see."

"I suppose I will," He agreed, patting Alfred on the shoulder before leaving him alone with his thoughts.

If nothing else, Alfred supposed, at least he had an interesting tale to tell when he got home, regardless of whatever else happened between now and then.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally I was gonna have the pirate dude be Russia, but then I realized there isn't enough Sweden-America interaction, parental or otherwise, so I decided it was better to fix that lack instead. Ahahaha...


	25. Alfred and the 'Oh Shit' Moment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There are some lines one simply doesn't cross if one wants to live, and pissing off the superpower is one of them.
> 
> Warning: Violence (Not super gory but still)
> 
> Posted July 12 2015

There was a moment of stunned silence from the assembled group as the gunshot's echo faded. Canada's body slumped to the floor, not even having a chance to react before the bullet had gone right through his head.

The man holding the gun snorted, giving the body a lazy kick, confident in his men's ability to keep the other freaks under control while he did his God-sworn duty to the Earth. "For a bunch of so-called immortals, you sure don't seem all that tough. Just goes to show you're all hype and no bite, hmm?"

He glanced up, momentarily confused as to why all of the guns which had been pointed rather evenly among the so called 'representatives' were now focused on one point, and turned to follow their gazes. And immediately started to regret it.

Because the one called 'America', who by all records and accounts, both written and word of mouth, was all but incapable of any emotion other than blissful ignorance, drunk on life while the people suffered under his thumb... wasn't smiling at all, instead staring him down with an unnerving blankness that even had the other representatives edging away as much as they could. For a moment, before he pushed it down, he felt very, very small, a mere child trying to challenge a god.

Superstition, he told himself, and made to turn away (and try to get that gaze out of his field of view and his mind.)

That was all the warning he got before everything went horribly, horribly wrong.

One second the so called superpower was secured, the next he'd grabbed his chair, brought it around on two of his men and smashed it and them, and had tossed aside the ruined pieces to start in on the panicking troops with merely his fists. The bodies he left in his wake were merely broken if they were lucky, and if they weren't...

The leader didn't even need to shout an order for them to start firing, but either their aim was worse than it appeared due to the speed he was moving at, or he was completely ignoring the wounds he was getting.

He didn't know which was more terrifying.

Before he could completely compute the carnage wrought on his men - specially trained just for this day, all cut down like grass in mere moments! - the freak was upon him, eyes cold and cruel and ancient, and even as he brought his gun up he knew it'd be useless, because what mere mortal weapon could strike down a demon?

(It didn't even notice the blood pouring from its body from the bullet wounds - even the one close to where its heart should have been didn't seem to phase it!)

The demon snatched the gun away, crushing the metal to bits before tossing it to the side, grabbing him by the throat and throwing him into the wall. He screamed as his shoulder was sharply dislocated from impact, grabbing onto it even as the demon stormed up and grabbed him by the throat again, pressing him against the wall and slowly increasing the pressure, looking almost gleeful now.

He wondered, between the increasingly patchy breaths and dark blotches in his eyes, whether he would break before or after the wall, and whether either would end this torment.

"Alfred!" One of the others shouted, and everything stopped, the demon halting its relentless assault as well.

The gaze drifted away for a second, calculating, before returning back to him. In them he could see his judgement being passed, and knew he'd soon taste death-

~0~0~

Alfred let the terrorist drop to the floor after knocking him out, fingers still twitching even as the UN police stormed in to apprehend those who'd managed to be lucky enough to avoid his short lived path of carnage. Fuck, he'd really let himself lose control, something he hadn't done in decades, and even then tempered by years between the attack and his revenge strike.

Arthur walked over, resting a hand on his charge's shoulder as the American watched the leader of the group get picked up and hauled away, barely grimacing at the body bags being pulled out for the remains of the others. "You know why I had to stop you."

"Yeah, I do," The superpower closed his eyes, exhaling again and letting his shoulders slump. "We need to know where the leaks are and we can't if he's dead."

The English Nation pat him sympathetically. "Matthew will be fine after some rest, though I imagine he'd appreciate a friendly face nearby once he wakes up."

"I'll take him back to our room," Alfred turned to look to his brother, who was carefully being cleaned up by a few of the other Nations before the blood set into his suit and hair. "I'll get him some takeout or something - not feeling super hungry myself."

"At least eat tomorrow," Arthur didn't argue despite his instincts, knowing that he would ignore it anyways and that Matthew would push the point once he was up and somewhat about again. "And make sure your brother does too. And-" He sighed, giving in to temptation. "Call me sometime, alright? Just to reassure me you aren't going to go do something stupid before you've had a chance to calm down."

Alfred, too tired to argue, nodded. "Alright," He whispered quietly. "Alright."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...yeah, I have to admit imagining an Alfred who is well and truly pissed off is a scary, scary thing I would never ever dare face or even attempt to invoke, because seriously that guy could probably take out a whole army on his own once he gets going. The aftereffects on him aren't exactly pleasant either, which makes it all even more terrible to contemplate.


	26. Bunny Drabbles 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yet more random bunny drabbles for your consumption. Might add more tomorrow if I have the time and inclination.
> 
> Posted July 25 2015

[36] Mutatia

"Even if we fix this, things aren't gonna be the same, are they?"

Matthew glanced over to his brother, who had been brooding since they'd finally reached the former American capital only to see it overrun with the half-humans and already starting to fall apart without anyone to actually maintain the infrastructure. "Al?"

"It's been more than a year, Mattie - the planet's already started adapting to the new status quo, and even if we get the cure to everyone, there's no doubt we're gonna have a lot of other issues to fix."

"At least the food's still edible, right?" The Canadian nudged his brother's shoulder, offering a smile he didn't entirely feel, because he understood exactly what his twin meant.

"I guess," The southern Nation replied, subconsciously reaching up to pet the Braviary that had just finished off its meal of a mutated rat. "Still, I can't stop thinking about whether we'll even still be needed after this."

The Braviary, as if sensing his companion's hurt, nudged his head against the personification's other shoulder, drawing a small smile from him. "I know, it's not your guys' fault, it's just-"

The American turned to look past his brother, across what had once been the National Mall to the lonely Washington Monument standing vigil in the distance. "There isn't an America or a Canada anymore. Heck, there aren't any countries at all as far as the world's concerned. Will our people still be the same once they get their memories back? Will they want to even keep things the same, or…"

Matthew scooted himself over, wrapping his arms around his brother and not feeling surprised to find his brother returning the gesture. "Don't give up yet, Al - we've still got to be big damn heroes and save the day, don't we?"

Glaceon yipped in agreement, resting a paw on the southern Nation's lap.

"See, even they agree with me. Maybe things will change, and maybe they won't, but that doesn't matter, because they're still our people, and as long as we're alive we'll be able to adapt with them, no matter what happens."

Alfred didn't reply, just continued to cling tight as Matthew's shoulder started to damped. This breaking point had been a long while coming, and the Canadian knew that his twin needed this in order to start pulling himself back together. Tomorrow they'd continue their quest, but for tonight, everything else could wait.

~0~0~

[37] Searching For The One

"Are you sure it's Gilbert?" Alfred asked over the line.

"I think so," Matthew replied, fixing himself a cup of hot chocolate while holding the phone to his ear with his shoulder. "I've got a good feeling about it, at least."

"When were you planning on talking to him about it?"

The Canadian hummed, tapping the spoon against the rim while he thought. "Maybe at the next meeting? It's in Germany, so he should be there even if it's just to hang out with his friends."

"Yeah, I guess that'll work."

Matthew smiled, turning to look out the window at the snow gently falling from the darkness above. "You know, I never thanked you for your dumb plan, but I guess you can brag about how it all worked out from now on, right?"

There was a long pause, along with the sounds of some things being moved around on the other end of the call.

"Al?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, definitely, Francis'll be so annoyed. I, ah, gotta go help Tony move some of his equipment, but I hope it works out with you two. Chat with you later?"

There was something off to the tone, but Matthew put it off as distraction. "That's fine, I'll call you back when I can. Thanks again, Al."

"No problem Mattie. Love you, bro."

"Love you too." The Canadian removed one of his hands from his cup to grab the phone, setting it back into it's charger before taking a long sip of the cooling beverage.

Really, he'd lucked out to have such a helpful and understanding brother. Maybe one day he'd even be able to return the favor.

~0~0~

[50] Hidden Away

"Aunt Ginny?" Alfred asked, looking a bit ill as he held onto his stomach. "I don't feel good."

The State sighed, knowing exactly what was making him ill but not quite sure how to bring it up. She knew she'd have to tell him and his brother about their status as Nations eventually, but it was one thing to say 'eventually' and another to realize it'd have to be soon, especially since the two were technically at war, even if it was just a proxy fight to the main war over in Europe.

But she could put it off for a few more days. At least until Joseph came back with Matthew so she could break it to both of them at once. Maybe that would be enough time to soften the blow.

(She really wished she didn't feel so much like Arthur, lying through her smile all the time.)

"You should get yourself to bed then," She told him softly, not meeting resistance as she gently nudged him towards the stairs. "I'll bring up some soup and medicine in a bit, alright?"

He made a face but nodded, slowly climbing his way up the stairs before pausing and turning back to her. "Is Mattie okay?"

 _He's getting far too perceptive to keep in the dark._  "I don't know; we'll know when he returned with Uncle Joseph in a few days."

~0~0~

"So we aren't human?" Matthew asked, so wide eyed and distraught that Ginny wanted nothing more than to apologize, but this had to be done.

"You are, but you also aren't," She replied. "You are still Alfred and Matthew, but you are also the British and French colonies in their entirety. You are the sum of your people but also your own person."

"Is that why we age wrong?" Alfred asked.

"Is that why I can tell how others are feeling and sometimes their names?" Matthew asked.

"Yes to both."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Her country - still so young, but already so strong! - demanded of her, and she knew he'd be able to tell if she's lying, because he learned it all from her.

"Do you remember that gruff green eyed Englishman who comes by occasionally that we always tell you to hide from? Or the blue eyed Frenchman who sometimes stops by as well?"

"Yes…" The two of them replied, having had them stop by for… a suspiciously long time, considering a normal, human lifespan, now that they considered it.

"Those are England and France, our colonizers and technically the ones who were supposed to raise you."

"Raise us?" Alfred frowned, brows furrowed. "But he's almost never here!"

"I've only seen Mr. Bonnefoy come by twice…" Matthew added, biting his lip at the idea of a parent who was never there.

"Exactly. They're far too busy in Europe to care about any of us aside from what wealth we give them, and when they aren't fighting each other they're searching for money so they can fund their next wars. Would you want to be raised by people like that?"

"Uncle Percy and Uncle Joseph fight all the time, though…" Matthew bit his lip.

"But the rest of us step in to stop it before it goes too far, right?" She pointed out, both of them nodding in memory. "No one in Europe does that; they just fight and fight and fight."

"That sounds awful," Alfred replied, looking so sad for them even though Ginny didn't feel they deserved it. "Why would they do that?"

"I don't know, Alfred," She sighed, shaking her head. "But that was why we tried so hard to get along for you, and why we agreed to not tell you right away. If Arthur and Francis had known about you two, they'd have done everything they could to turn you against each other, because an Englishman and a Frenchman can never be friends, and they'd have made you fight each other for them."

They both look horrified at the thought, and she knew she was stretching the truth to suit her whims, but she didn't have much of a choice unless she wanted them to be angry at all of their makeshift family.

"I would never fight Mattie!" "They would make me fight Al?"

"They would, and then they'd turn around and take everything from your people because they wanted to fight more. Why do you think your people are fighting now, even if they don't want to?"

They trade long looks, their faces flashing through emotions as they spoke in the odd way that twins of any sort always do, before turning back to her. "We don't wanna fight anymore. Can't you make them stop?"

"If only I could," She replied. "I'm not a Nation, just a colony. If you two got strong enough, maybe you could make them get along, but…"

"We'll do it, then." Alfred nodded, determined now. "We'll get strong enough to stop all the fighting, and then everyone will get along once they realize they're being dumb."

She didn't have the heart to tell him his dream was likely to fail before it started, but at least he wasn't angry anymore. Maybe having a goal would keep him away from the other Nations until he was ready.

~0~0~

[56] Better Without Me?

Arthur woke up to a battlefield.

He couldn't remember how he got here, but he knew that his body ached from phantom wounds, either the just healed or from the loss of his people. They were in- in- Poland, yes, and the enemy was- Russia? No, the Union? But hadn't they fallen?

His head throbbed and his mouth tasted of the ashes of numerous deaths. He couldn't make sense of any of his memories, what he could remember clashing and vying for reality and why was there fighting? Weren't they all at peace?

 _There can never be peace here_ , his mind whispered, sending a ghostly shudder down his spine as another bomb killed a dozen of his men.

There was someone who could help with this, he knew, they'd always hated the Union - wait, why wasn't America here? Surely he'd be on the front lines against the Union? Unless he was in air support - he looked up with a frown - where was that?

One of his officers ran up, hair a mess as she came to a stop behind the same strip of broken wall he was hiding behind. "Sir!"

"Yes, lieutenant?" He tried to remember her name, but couldn't.

"The Russians are advancing around to the north - in an hour they'll have us pinned if we don't intercept or retreat. Your orders?"

"Where are our allies?" He asked, not even sure if he had any. "Do we have any backup coming?"

Why was he still hoping for some loud mouthed blond to swoop in with an annoyingly cheerful and uplifting laugh while he turned the fight around? Why wasn't America here?

She licked her lips. "Most of our allies are at stalemate with Soviet forces to the south, sir - there won't be backup from them for weeks. The French are struggling with internal tensions, possibly another bloody removal of their emperor and weeks until the new one is appointed."

"What about the Americans? They have to be doing something, right?"

He can see the confusion crease her face, and he doesn't need to know her to know something is wrong. "Americans, sir?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally getting around to drabbling out some more stuff for these. It's interesting to see what ideas I still have muses for as opposed to those I've dropped for the moment.


	27. Abandoned At The Altar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You know all those romance movies where the wedding gets called off at the last second so the main couple can run off and live happily ever after? Well, why has no one asked what happens to the guy left behind?
> 
> AmeCan->UkCan, canonverse, FEELS
> 
> Posted July 27 2015

Alfred wakes up short of breath, tears prickling the corners of his eyes as he tries to remember where he is. There's a soft mattress under him and familiar sheets over him, and he relaxes as he realizes he's in his bed.

 _It was just a nightmare._  Just an unfortunate case of pre-wedding jitters; most people get them, right?

The bed beside him is cold and empty. Maybe Mattie's got cold feet too, because this is a big deal for both of them, and so he's gotten up to do something to distract himself. It wouldn't be the first time. The calendar beyond doesn't have the wedding day checked off, another sign that he was just far too worked up over all of this.

(Besides, there's no way Arthur would-)

He pushes himself up, yawning and stretching, and tilts his head with a smile as he hears noise coming from downstairs - the kitchen. Mattie was making coffee, was he? Maybe today was special enough to even warrant some of those lovely chocolate chip pancakes before they got ready to head out for their big day.

Glancing to the time - 6:45, plenty early - he rolls his shoulders once before maneuvering himself out of bed, remembering to make it behind him even if he was sure it'd be more than a bit messed up after they got back from the reception. Stumbling his way to the bathroom - because while he could see without his glasses, he was still half-asleep from the nightmares - he emerged about fifteen minutes later much more awake and refreshed, smiling as he pondered the day to come.

(In less than twelve hours he'd be in here again, but with a  _husband_  instead of a boyfriend, and that word alone sent a wave of warmth through him.)

Walking back over to his bed, he picked up his glasses and put them on, focusing through them on the picture of himself and Mattie on their one-year-dating anniversary, almost face to face as they laughed over some long forgotten joke. Alfred took in the crinkle of his boyfriend's eyes, the wide carefree grins they shared, and felt himself smiling as well.

(God, he loved Mattie so much, and knew Mattie loved him just as much-)

Humming a tune he couldn't name off the top of his head, he went over to the cabinet to pull out a shirt, putting it on before he finally felt ready to leave the room.

(And why did it feel like he was missing something? Had he remembered to leave the suits hanging somewhere they could air out? Maybe the wedding bands? What about-)

He stops at the top of the stairs, taking a whiff of the scent of something pleasant drifting up from down below, and wonders what his boyfriend is making, because it's not waffles or pancakes, but it's certainly familiar… ah well, he'll find out soon enough.

When he peers into the kitchen, though, he finds it isn't Matthew at all, but Toris, putting about as he finishes up what Alfred vaguely recalls is one of the dashes he liked to make way back when he lived with him. Which isn't completely odd - Toris had in town for the wedding as well, and him coming over to say hi before everything would be a very Toris thing to do - but it begs the question, if Mattie isn't here, then where is he?

(Why wasn't he here, with him…?)

And Toris, by chance, looks over at him at that moment, eyes wide and panicked before he slams all of it down behind a smile. "Oh, Mr. America, I didn't hear you come down."

"Where's Mattie?" Alfred asks, ignoring the coiling in his gut, pre-wedding jitters, because there's no way-

( _-It was just a nightmare-_ )

"I made some breakfast for you, and some coffee, since I wasn't sure how hungry you'd be-"

"Where's Mattie?" He repeats more forcefully.

Toris' thin facade of normalcy breaks then, his entire body slumping where he stood, gaze flickering down and away for a long, choking moment before he dared to look up again. Alfred refused to recognize it as guilt, as pity, because-

"I'm so sorry."

No. No no no no nononono _nononono-_

He didn't know when he started backing away, but between one blank second and the next he was running, out the door past another person, not knowing or caring where he was going so long as it was away from his thoughts-

(Not that he could escape what was already gnawing at him from the inside, sucking away the warmth and joy in him and leaving a hollow pit in his gut-)

(" _Does anyone object to these two being lawfully wed? Speak now, or forever-"_

" _I do."_

" _Arthur?"_

" _-I have always-"_

" _-but what about-"_

" _-think about us. About you."_

" _...I will.")_

 _(Mattie- Mattie-_ _ **Mattie-**_ )

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know how I have this policy of not writing fics that hurt the feels too much? Generally leaning towards fluffy happy times? Well that's because when I want to write angst, I want to write angst that makes you want to cry so hard you can't even believe. And, of course, this is just the preview to the full fic I have planned for the nearish future. Enjoy~


	28. Action Movie Bonding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alfred wants Natalya to feel more comfortable in his house, so he offers up a movie...
> 
> 'Posted' July 28 2015

"Hey Belarus," Alfred greeted in Russian from the doorway to the guest bedroom, hoping he wasn't being too pushy with her since she had technically just moved in. "You settling in alright?"

She looked up from where she'd been sitting on the bed, gaze carefully blank of whatever she might have been feeling at the time. "I am fine."

He bit back a sigh, figuring she didn't have much reason to open up to him yet and that he just needed to be patient, even if that wasn't his strong suit. "That's good to hear. You need anything? Books? Clothes? Food? I can probably still run out and get it before the stores close…"

"I don't need anything right now."

Well, so much for that. "Alright… you hungry? I can make dinner."

"I am not."

Alfred winced, trying to think of something he could do to make her a bit more comfortable. "How about a movie?"

She blinked at him, but didn't turn it down right away, prompting him to continue. "Since there's a pretty big time difference you need to adjust to and it's still a bit early to go to bed, I figure a movie would help keep you awake until a better time."

After another long stretch of silence which had him feeling a bit awkward about being so forward, she eventually sighed, closing her eyes. "I suppose I can put up with one of your American films for that reason."

Well, at least that was something, he decided with a grin. "Right, I'll just pull out a few and you can lemme know which one looks interesting when you come down."

Waiting just a second to see if she changed her mind or wanted something else before leaving, Alfred made his way down to his TV room, digging through his collection of films while trying to figure out what kind she'd even like. He really didn't want to make assumptions about her after some of the things he'd heard the others whisper just out of her hearing range, because damnit all he knew what it was like to have the world single you out and refused to do it to her as well.

(He didn't hold out too much hope she'd do the same for him, not because he thought she was shallow but because he sometimes recognized the others weren't entirely wrong about  _him_.)

By the time she came downstairs, he had out a few movies from half a dozen genres, from action to romance to horror, and hoped that she wouldn't just turn down all of them and retreat to her room again, because he really wanted to make her feel welcome as soon as possible and that would probably be a lot more difficult if she spent all her time in the guest room.

Belarus made her way over to him slowly, gaze lingering on him for a moment before turning to the small piles of movies separated by theme. Starting at the close end, she picked up the case, looking over the cover with a frown that he attributed to distaste until she turned back to him. "What is this?"

...wait, that's right, she didn't read or speak much English. Whoops. "Ah, those are the romance films, but there are other types, I just wasn't sure..."

She made a face at that, setting them back down before moving on to the next one.

"Fantasy." Another grimace before they joined the first pile.

"Horror." Thoughtful, but she set them down as well.

"Scifi." Those also went into the pile.

"Action." And here seemed to hit the jackpot, as she didn't move to set them down, instead going through the pile and examining the covers, trying to eke out their story without being able to read the title.

After shuffling through most of them, she went back to the second movie in the stack, pulling it out so that Alfred could see it clearly. "Which one is this?"

"That's…" not the movie he would expect her to pick, but he hardly minded! "Indiana Jones. Archaeologist and adventurer who helped stop Nazi plots with his whip and brains. I promise I didn't have anything to do with the naming process."

Belarus raised an eyebrow.

"...my human name's Alfred F. Jones, and I sorta have archaeology and stuff as a hobby so… yeah…it was a weird coincidence..."

Pressing her lips together in thought, she glanced back down to the film before conceding and handing it over with a sigh. "I suppose I can put up with this if it remains as simple as that."

Beaming widely, Alfred took the film from her and brought it over to the TV, carefully inserting it into the player before making his way back over to the couch. "You can sit down wherever you like - I know you said you didn't want dinner, but I can make snacks or something if you want."

"I don't need anything, but thank you."

Shrugging, he waited for her to settle down on one side of the couch before taking the other, sitting back and smiling as the film started to roll.

~0~0~

"America, where in the world is Belarus?"

"She, ah, had to get changed."

"Whatever for? Did she spill something on her outfit?"

"...not exactly…"

[Door opens and closes] "Sorry I'm late."

"What the hell-"

"Turns out, Nat is really into actiony type stuff, especially if it has Harrison Ford in it."

"But-"

"Don't worry, she hasn't seen Star Wars yet."

"I-"

"She also pulls off the hat really well, doesn't she?"

"-grk-"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahahaha, something set a bit in the past, when Nat was living with Alfred and trying to get used to her new situation. I imagine they would bond over action films and stuff for reasons, so yeah this is just a thing with that.


	29. To Protect And Serve (SG1 xover)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Nations have, over the millenia, become rather happy with their situation, and there's no way they're going to risk their people destroying that because they found some alien stone ring they'd all rather remain forgotten.
> 
> Posted July 30 2015

" _This… is a problem."_

Alfred tilted his head back, frowning. "Why's that?"

" _You remember what I told you of my species?"_

"Yeah, something about them being forced to leave Earth alone after a huge war?"

America provided the mental equivalent of a nod. " _Indeed. This stone ring is what certain members of us used to collect their chatel from this world to serve them across the galaxy."_

"Wait, they kidnapped people?" The American balked, putting the folder down sharply. "Why didn't you mention that?"

" _Because I didn't think at the time that anyone would be so foolish as to dig it up again, much less attempt to actually figure out what it does,"_  The alien symbiote noted dryly. " _It was thousands of years ago, and for the most part humanity has forgotten most of the details about them, so I didn't think it was a relevant issue anymore."_

"Still, that's something you think people would want to know about just in case, you know, your buddies come back one day."

" _They won't, not as long as the Treaty holds. I recall Tony giving you that briefing when you asked. And if they did, I assure you none of us would welcome them with open arms."_

Alfred blinked, frowning. "Why not? Wouldn't they want you guys back if they knew about you?"

" _If they were willing to leave us here to fend for ourselves when they fled, why do you assume they would care now?"_

"I dunno, experience? You have a lot you guys could offer…"

" _That assumes they would listen. The goa'uld are extremely proud, and refuse to admit any species could be superior to them, especially humans, and I have my doubts they've changed much since I last walked among them."_

"But didn't Tony say most of their technology was stolen from other species?"

" _Indeed it is."_

"So what you're saying is that they're hypocrites."

America simply chuckled. " _Of the worst sort."_

"So I'm guessing this ring thing isn't theirs either?"

" _No, it was made by a species far older, who were once allied with the Asgard and as far as I recall spanned many galaxies in their heyday."_

"What happened to those guys, then?"

" _They disappeared. I don't know the details, but they seemed to consider you important enough that the Asgard fought long and hard to have you protected under the Treaty."_

"Wow," Alfred sat back, think on all of that for a moment, America remaining dutifully silent so his host could think on it for himself. "So what made you guys different from the rest of them?"

" _We weren't, not right away,"_  America offered memories of the confused days after the rebellion and the stealthy arrival of the Asgard to purge whatever Goa'uld influence they could find. " _We were torn down and scattered, forced to hide so that we didn't die. Only after centuries did we meet again, most of our hosts dying of old age even with our healing, and we knew if we wanted to survive we would no longer be able to just take hosts as we pleased, for the humans had been trained to kill any who showed signs of 'possession' on sight."_

The scene changed to a gathering, a hundred of them listening as one in particular, who America identified as China, explained his idea. " _We decided the best way to hide would be with the leaders of your kind, trading our knowledge and wisdom in exchange for protection. A simple plan with a good risk of failure, but it was better than waiting to be hunted down. We figured at the time we were getting the better deal, for what would the mere mortals gain from the tidbits we were willing to share?"_

Alfred bristled at the dismissive tone, but America continued on with his story. " _Imagine our surprise when you started developing at a rather rapid rate after the mitigating influence of our kind had gone. We didn't share much of anything, so imagine our surprise when you started developing basic science, reasoning, and civilization within a few centuries."_

The goa'uld shared a few more tidbits of the changes over time through his eyes as he journeyed across Europe and to the Americas. " _Not to mention how having our hosts choose their own successors changed things for us. It was humbling to see what advantages your species had over our long lives and genetic memories when given the chance to thrive on your own, and by the time it became necessary to do more than just sit back and watch the world spin on, we had ended up rather, well, fond of your odd young species."_

Alfred snorted, relaxing again as he felt the embarrassment in the back of his head. "So basically you actually got exposed to us enough to realize we were awesome and mellowed out."

" _For the most part, yes. Ten thousand years is a long time to think about yourself and your choices, and we have all long agreed that we have no interest in ever letting Ra or any of the rest of them near Earth before you are all prepared to deal with him."_

"Does that come back to the ring, then?"

" _It does. That ring is a chappa'ai, a stargate if you will. It generates a controlled wormhole that will connect to any other functional stargate within the galaxy, allowing near instantaneous travel across hundreds of lightyears."_

Alfred whistled. "That sounds really useful."

" _It is, but you do not want to experiment with that yet."_

"Why not?"

" _You are not ready. I am sure Tony could give you the specifics, but to my latest reckoning the goa'uld control about a third of the galaxy, though thankfully they are on the opposite side of it. What do you think would happen if you sent people through and they ended up on a world controlled by them?"_

"They would… get caught?"

America nodded. " _And likely tortured and killed for not showing the proper slave mentality to whichever lord rules that particular lord. And if they learned where those people came from…"_

"They might get interested in Earth again. But wouldn't the Asgard stop them?"

" _They would, if not for two things - one, the Asgard have weakened from what I can tell. Why do you think they have never sent someone around to at least check in with Tony since he crashed here decades ago?"_

"I dunno, busy?"

" _Perhaps, but one would think they would have collected him before now if they could, even if they just happened to be passing by."_

"Fine, I'll let it go. What's the second thing?"

" _I would have to take a look at the details of the Treaty again, but I think there is a clause stating that if a species under Asgard protection starts using the Stargate, then they are clearly advanced enough to not need protection anymore."_

Alfred paled. "Which would mean the guys could come right back in if they knew we were out there."

" _Which is why I will push for you to wait until you are somewhat prepared for the danger. The report mentioned there was an accident, right? Use that against it - bury all the records until we are certain you and your kin can survive what will come."_

"We?"

" _Do you think I wouldn't let the others know the stargate has been recovered? This is something that will affect everyone, regardless of arbitrary borders and alliances."_

"Hey, it's not my fault Ivan was being creepy, he started it."

" _I remember having to take over to stop you two from getting into a full out brawl."_

Alfred pouted some more. "Fine, you can do whatever you want to stuff this away, but I still want to see it get used someday, got it?"

" _I won't make any promises; you will be ready when you are ready."_

The blond groaned. "Why did I ever agree to this?"

" _Because you thought Eleanor's tales of the Revolution and Civil War to be 'wicked cool?'"_

"Shut up, I didn't ask you."

America just laughed some more, to his hosts continued aggravation. Humans were so wonderfully ridiculous sometimes, and he wouldn't change it for anything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just an old km prompt I saw a long while ago and always pondered in the back of my mind. There's no doubt it would shake canon up a LOT for them to exist like this, especially after the SGC discovers that the Nations are actually, well, alien symbiotes. I might write some more for this, maybe? But I'd have to make it different in plot from my current sg1 fic, probably by going from ww2 to when the movie happened? I'll see someday.


	30. Random Drabbles 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More Random drabbles and stuff too small to leave in their own chapters. 
> 
> Posted July 31 2015

"But dad, I don't wanna get glasses!"

Arthur sighed, once again wondering how he'd ended up in this scenario. Oh right, he'd brought Matthew in to get his glasses adjusted since he was growing bigger and couldn't fit the smaller frames anymore, and had figured it wouldn't be too much trouble to get Alfred tested as well since they were there.

And, of course, he couldn't have just ended up with the same nearsightedness as his older brother, oh no, he'd had to be farsighted instead, which meant he couldn't just use Matthew's prescription as a tide over.

(It did explain a bit of why his younger child prefered his comic books to novels - he couldn't imagine the headaches one would get from trying when everything closer than ten feet started to blur around you. Obviously not the entire explanation, but it helped a bit.)

"Why not? You thought your brother's glasses were neat enough, didn't you?"

The ten year old made a face. "Yeah, but that's when  _he's_  wearing them. I don't wanna wear them myself all the time, I'll look dumb."

"You'll hardly look any dumber than Matthew; in fact, most people see people with glasses as smarter."

"That's not what I mean, dad," Alfred stamped his foot, pouting. "Heroes don't need glasses, so why should I?"

...Ah, that was the issue. Arthur was not a huge fan of comic books like his kids, but he still knew enough to make at least a token attempt. "Doesn't Superman wear glasses when he's in disguise?"

"...yeah," The boy nodded, considering the idea. "But that's when he's in disguise."

"Why don't you just consider the glasses your own disguise then?" He continued effortlessly, hoping this would work. "I'm certain there's plenty of heroes who wear glasses sometimes, right?"

"Huh," The boy pondered, grinning at the idea. "Yeah, I could so do that, and then when the bad guys show up I just whip them off and bam bam bam, I'll kick all their butts and save the day!"

"Of course you will," Arthur agreed, sighing in relief at this reprieve. Whether it'd last long enough to actually get them and get used to them was hard to say, but at least for now his youngest was willing to humor the idea. "Just be careful with them, alright? If you break them I'll be very upset with you."

"I promise," Alfred replied quickly. "And a hero doesn't go back on that!"

~0~0~

Alfred knows he's hit his target when a string of foreign swears erupts from his headset, another point added to his tally as he brings his gun around to try and spot another target before he's forced to move again.

Moving to Ailateh U. had been rough at first, since he'd left most of his friends behind (asides from Mattie, of course, cause they were bros for life!), and he'd lacked interest the start of term parties around the dorms and apartments to try and make new ones. Since he was just getting used to his new schedules and not having a parent around to ease some of the household chores, he hadn't even really thought much about making friends until things started to calm down for him.

Then, of course, he'd run into Kiku, who was a new student from Japan and spoke only marginal English, though it was far above the American's Japanese to be fair. They'd run into each other at the local GameStop, where Alfred had been running a long string of WonderTrades on his Pokemon OmegaRuby to try and fill the last few spots in his shiny collection.

Kiku, who had been there to buy a copy of CoD, had glanced at his screen, frowned, and had raised an eyebrow. "Need pokemon?"

"Huh?" Alfred looked up from his screen, blinking as he realized the newcomer was talking to him. "Uh, a few, I'm trying to get all the shinies, but there's a few I'm having trouble with."

He pulled up his box, showing the empty slots in his collection while Kiku nodded or frowned. At one point he stopped Alfred, pointing to a particular spot. "You need Janovy?"

"Janovy?" Alfred looked between him and the space before ti clinked. "Oh, Servine! Yeah, do ya have a spare?"

"I do," The Japanese man replied, pulling out his own DS that appeared to have AlphaSapphire inside. "For your spare Luxio?"

"Psh, sure thing dude, I'm all for that!"

They quickly made the trade, Alfred receiving a shiny Snivy to evolve at his leisure while Kiku got a well-stated Luxio (courtesy of a lucky trade he'd held onto for potential bribery). After it finished the blond beamed, closing his DS for the moment to focus properly. "So, what's your name, anyways?"

Whether Kiku knew this moment had doomed him to a life of friendship with the American was hard to say, but he took it all in stride none the less as they exchanged friend codes, then later on xbox and Wii gamer tags in order to keep in contact in between classes and other IRL duties. They'd quickly found themselves embroiled in competitions over Mario Cart online, cheerfully telling each other off for the numerous shells, bananas, and stars sent each other's way.

Within a month, they'd ended up joined by Eduard, the guy who sat next to Alfred in calculus and turned out to be a nasty shot in combat games, and Yong Soo, who as it turned out was a friendly archrival of Kikus after an intense finals match of Starcraft for a competition being held in one of the school computer labs.

That making them a solid group of four, they then set out in a series of cooperative and competitive showdowns that often went hilariously wrong when the English they tried to communicate in got misunderstood along the way. Of course, considering Alfred was learning swears and insults in three languages, he hardly minded the slips, correcting where he needed to and otherwise doing his best to kick ass and take names.

A knife came flying from the side, inches in front of him, and he yelped before turning to fire at the assailant before he vanished back into the building he'd thrown in from. Seriously, whoever thought you needed to communicate clearly in order to understand each other had clearly never played CoD for several hours straight - there were plenty of things that crossed the language barriers once you got down to it!

~0~0~

"Hey guys, sorry we're late, there was some traffic… and…"

Alfred blinked as he took in the state of the room, then reached up, pulled his glasses off, rubbed at his eyes, and put them back on before reassessing the scene. Nope, still the same, and he'd just cleaned his glasses that morning, so… "Matt, you seeing this too?"

"If it's a bunch of kids who look suspiciously like the other Nations all fighting or staring at us, then yes, yes I am."

"Damn, and here I was hoping I had too much coffee this morning."

"Did you even have any?"

"...actually, now that you mention it-"

There was a shriek from the back of the room, instantly drawing both of their attentions as they tried to figure out what was happening now. As it continued, the two ran over to the commotion, seeing that a young Arthur was tugging on a young Francis' hair while the French boy shrieked in protest and smacked the English boy back. It seemed even as kids they could find ways to fight.

"Matt, you grab Franny, I'll grab Arts, and then we'll see about the rest of these guys."

His brother nodded, walking over and firmly removing Arthur's hand before picking the teary eyed French child up, patting him on the back while Alfred moved in to scoop up the complaining Arthur.

"Don't help that frog, he started it!" The child complained, scowling fiercely before the American brought him up so they were eye to eye.

"You didn't help by fighting back, so you both are going to apologize and you are going to behave or else, you got that?"

The child to his credit refused to bow down for nearly a minute, but in the end slumped in Alfred's arms and mumbled out a half-hearted, "Sorry." When Francis did the same, Matthew and Alfred exchanged nods, figuring for the moment things were mostly contained.

"So, bets on what caused this?" Alfred asked casually, examining the other kids as they went back to their games now that the fight was over and the 'adults' were no longer interesting. "First two don't count."

"It's not hard when his wand's still on the floor," Matthew pointed out, gesturing with his hand awkwardly in the direction of the forgotten magical tool, which was almost in the hands of a very eager Gilbert.

"Whoops, not for long," The American moved to intervene, scooping it up before more chaos was caused. "You know who we need right now?"

"Ginny?"

"Ginny."

"Thank god we're in my place this time, or this'd be a lot harder to deal with," Alfred pulled out his cellphone while keeping Arthur from falling, hitting the State's speed dial number before putting it up to his ear and waiting. "Hey, Gin? We got a bit of a problem here. How soon can you be at the UN building? WIth your spellbooks. Yes, it's one of those days. Great, see you soon."

"She's on her way?" Matthew asked.

"With her general counterspell book, yeah," His brother nodded, tucking the phone away again. "Should be here in two hours tops depending on what flight she catches. Think we can last that long?"

The Canadian looked around the room, biting his lip thoughtfully. "Maybe."

Alfred looked ready to play it off but bit down on his lip, not interested in tempting fate today.

At least today's meeting wasn't going to be boring.

~0~0~

"You two are all dressed up," Chloe looked her two drop-in guests over, eyebrow raised. "That for that convention you're going to?"

"Yep," Eleanor beamed, spinning in place to show off her fancy dress. "Em and I spent weeks sewing these together and making all the props that go with it, then she helped me get my hair dyed so that it looked right for the character."

"Ah, I was wondering why your hair was black now," The Australian woman nodded. "Which characters are you going as? Some of Japan's again?"

"Psh, naw, not this time, this show's from my folks," The American preened, bringing her mock scythe around to pose. "I'm Ruby Rose, the best Huntress there is!"

"And I'm Yang, her character's older sister," Emily continued, tucking some of her puffed out hair back behind her ear again. "We thought it fit considering."

"Makes sense," Chloe agreed. "I didn't think you made too many of those types of shows, though."

"Nah, I don't, but these guys did, like, amazing stuff, and it's only been two seasons so far!" Eleanor grinned as her weapon was reholstered. "Hell, Sakura liked it enough when I showed it to her that she decided to start importing it!"

Chloe whistled - it was no secret that the Japanese woman was very picky about her entertainment and prefered stuff from her own place, but to actually import a show like this… "Congrats to you then, I'd offer you drinks but I think you might not want them right now."

"Maybe when we get back," Emily demured, nudging her sister's side. "C'mon, we got up early so we could get in line before it got too long, remember?"

"Yeah, I'm coming, I'm coming," The American sighed, waving to the Australian as they went out the front door. "See you later; we probably won't be back until after dinner, so don't worry about us!"

And then Chloe was alone again, shaking her head and chuckling as she got herself another cup of coffee. Her family was strange, but she didn't think she'd trade them for the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aha, did a bit of reorganizing so that I didn't have so many tiny chapters. Hopefully no one minds!


	31. Bunny Drabbles 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More random bunnies for perusal.
> 
> Posted Aug 6 2015

[36] Mutatia

The twins tensed as the large ice bear plodded its way over to them, unsure of whether it would consider attacking them for the food they were carrying. It still looked remarkably like the polar bear it had likely once been, though it was obviously as changed as most of the wildlife they'd come across so far.

Matthew watched the bear as it came up to him, almost sticking his nose into his jacket, and the Canadian was convinced it was going to start trying to knock him over for food until it spoke.

"Feed me."

The Canadian blinked, thrown by the non sequitur, before turning to his brother who had abruptly started laughing his ass off. "Alfred!"

"Sorry Mattie but just- oh my god your face when he spoke up- holy shit-"

Matthew groaned, not wanting to admit that it might have indeed been funny had it been the other way around. Instead he turned back to the bear, who was now sitting while staring at him hopefully. The likeness to a dog would have been more complete if the bear hadn't still been at eye level with him.

"Nanuq? Is that you?"

The bear snorted, a fine icy mist clouding in front of him at the action, as if in disbelief his owner could mistake him for another bear. "Hungry."

Alfred, who had mostly finished giggling at this point, shook his head in amazement. "Holy shit, even as a magical ice bear he can't be bothered to feed himself if you're around."

Matthew's glaceon, having gotten a closer look - and whiff - of the bear while the humans were distracted, seemed more than happy to clamber up Nanuq's back and use him as a makeshift perch. Alfred's braviary, in the face of that amount of ice, wisely chose to perch up above in a tree while the reunion went on.

~0~0~0~0~0~

[51] Pride and Prejudice

Arthur frowned, shifting in his seat as he sent another glance down the table to where Alfred was sitting. He'd hoped to procure a seat next to the young Nation, but the Slavic siblings had taken the three seats to his left and the Italies had taken the two to his right, leaving the Briton no choice but to sit elsewhere.

(He didn't want to admit that he'd been scared out of asking them to move when they'd all given him frigid looks worthy of the northern reaches - he didn't even know Feliciano  _could_  glare until today.)

Of course, he could always just catch the boy afterwards, explain things soothingly so that he understood why this was necessary for everyone's good, but that hit a dead end as well, his chair barely sliding from its place by the time Feliks had bounded over, all but ignoring Ivan's presence in favor of wrapping his arms around Alfred's shoulders.

"Hey, we haven't hung out in ages," The Polish man reprimanded gently. "We should totes have a movie night together while you're over here!"

"I'm not sure…" Alfred had replied quietly, hesitant. "I still have a lot of paperwork to do when I get back…"

"Psh, those can wait a few days, can't they?" Feliks removed his arms so he could maneuver himself to the table to lean against it. "If your boss complains, just say you're working on improving relations with Eastern Europe - it's not like it's a lie, and you'll get to relax for a bit."

Feliciano leaned over, waving his hands as he agreed to the idea. "Oh, I could make food for everyone, and then we can have a snowball fight!"

Feliks snorted in amusement. "Just remember the snow gear I lent you this time, alright?"

"Got it!"

Arthur coughed, trying to get their attention, only to balk when everyone's gazes turned on him, all amusement dying away into a strangled silence.

"Do you need something?" Natalya asked, looking like she'd be glad to get rid of him as soon as possible.

"I was just wondering if I could speak with Alfred for a moment? Alone, possibly?"

"Sorry, no can do," Lovino replied dryly. "We're busy making plans with him, so you can go fuck yourself."

"Lovi, that's not nice," Feliciano chastised before turning his gaze back to Arthur. "But Alfred really doesn't want to talk to you right now, so unless you want Ivan to escort you out, you should probably go.

The English Nation looked to the Russian Nation. The Russian Nation smiled back, his eyes promising he would fully enjoy going through with it.

Arthur cut his losses and left, knowing he couldn't hide behind the others forever, and when that happened…

~0~0~0~0~0~

[53] Well This Is Strange

Alfred very carefully kept watch over his twin as the nurse puttered around, finding the vials that would work properly on a 'squib' (as Alfred had bluffed in order to keep things simple; his brother would catch on fast once he realized the situation as well.) If the gesture also served as a way to avoid looking into the eyes of potential mindreaders, well that was just coincidence since he was concerned with Matthew's good health.

He'd long ago finished the chocolate offered to him, pocketing the one given to him for his brother since he knew he still had a Hershey's bar on him somewhere the Canadian would probably prefer. British wizarding chocolate, for its odd tricks, really just wasn't the same from what he'd discovered.

"I trust you understand why we're so leery about two strangers suddenly approaching the castle during these troubled times," Old Man Dumbledore spoke softly, though there was a firm note in his voice that all but demanded answers.

Alfred could have ignored it, honestly, but he saw no reason to be antagonistic to the people currently helping his brother out, so went with the next best option. "Really? What's going on?"

"Surely you must have heard about a recent breakout, Mr. Jones."

Do not roll eyes. Do not roll eyes. "My brother and I are from the US, and since you guys sound British I'm gonna assume that's where we are now, so no, we don't exactly keep up on everything that happens over here."

"Rude little-"

"Enough, Severus," Dumbledore interrupted. "Since you are not aware, I will warn you that the mass murderer known as Sirius Black has recently escaped from Azkaban, and we fear he plans on finishing what his master started twelve years ago."

Alfred nodded slowly, trying to remember what he could of the books without actually giving anything away. "I might have read something like that, but it slipped my mind. He's after someone here then?"

"A student by the name of Harry Potter."

The Nation could hardly believe this was a genuine, serious conversation he was having right now. "Ah, sucks to be him then."

If anyone there thought it odd he didn't fawn, they said nothing, moving the conversation along. "Indeed, so you can see why we are reluctant to leave you to your own devices while you're here."

"Cause my brother and I might be working for this Sirius Black guy or his master?" Alfred couldn't help but snort in amusement at the idea. "Sorry, neither of us exactly support terrorists or criminals."

The American could almost feel the look leveled on him for the brush off. "Be that as it may, until we are sure of your loyalties and your brother's health, we will have to ask you to remain in the rooms we will provide for you."

Alfred blinked, resisting the urge to turn on the man in disbelief. "Uh, I'm flattered, but I'd really rather just get home as soon as possible."

"And risk another confrontation with the dementors without any sort of protection?"

...damn him. Alfred closed his eyes and sighed. "Fine, but can I at least learn how to fight those freakish things off while I'm here."

Something else struck him, causing him to frown. "Also I might need a wand, because I didn't exactly have mine on me when we got blasted here."

"The first can be provided, but the second will have to wait until someone is free to escort you. I trust you have money?"

The American frowned, checking his jacket to see if he still had his wallet on him - thankfully, he did. "Yeah, but it's all nonmagical cash, so…"

"That can be traded in at Gringotts beforehand."

Hopefully he had enough on his person… how much was a galleon in US dollars again? Guess he was about to find out.

(And no, he didn't miss how the 'when someone is free to escort you' sounded a lot like 'when we're sure we can trust you.' He knew the language of politics better than most humans, and he knew he was in murky water.

This… was gonna be interesting to work with.)

~0~0~0~0~0~

[56] Better Without Me?

Matthew sat on what he vaguely felt was where the border between his brother and himself should have been, only there was no border because he had no brother, and he didn't know how that was possible because he damn well knew he had a brother, only…

No, no, he refused to doubt himself, refused to believe the world he half-hazily knew wasn't real, because a world without his twin there to help him up when he stumbled, to laugh away his fears, or to share all his latest harebrained ideas and jokes with him… it was unthinkable, for too many reasons to count.

He continued to sulk on the nonexistent woodland border between himself and a country that didn't exist, not caring that his colonizer (and god did the idea of being a mere colony make his stomach twist and gnarl) was looking for him, or that he'd been there for two days with food or water, because he just knew if he waited long enough he would wake up from this horrible nightmare to his brother's concerned gaze, asking if he were alright.

(...why couldn't he remember his name? It was on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn't quite speak it…

It was America, sure, but it was also Af… Ar… Ame…)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because the more I write for these the more ideas I get and the more likely it is that I might take up another fic or two to actually work on soonish.


	32. Bunny Drabbles 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And yet more random drabbles from various bunnies.
> 
> Posted Sept 11 2015

[16/29] How To Raise Your Dragon

"Come out, come out, wherever you are…"

Alfred stepped cautiously through the woods, keeping his ears out for any sounds of movement. He knew something was close since there was a distinct lack of birdsong for a sunny spring afternoon, but considering how well they could hide he would have to be fast in order to catch them before they caught him instead.

He paused briefly to glance up, but couldn't make out anything in the branches above despite his best effort. With a quiet sigh he started pressing forward again, fingers twitching in suspense as he waited for the first sound of an ambush-

There was a woosh of air, and he turned just in time to catch a mouthful of feathers to the face, flailing for a moment before he reached up to help the poor amphithere settle more casually onto his shoulders. "Alright, you win that one, Ellie."

"Yay!" The young dragon cheered, wings extending out until they accidentally smacked Alfred in the back of the head. "Oops."

"Oof," He winced, though the blow hadn't hurt by any means, but since it seemed to be working in teaching the kids to not flap around wildly he'd exaggerate a little as necessary. "Oops is right."

"Ssorry…" Eleanor apologized, pressing her face close to the 'wound' in imitation of a kiss. "All better!"

He chuckled at the gesture, thus missing the brief swish before something collided with his arm, quickly wrapping a tail around the limb before it tumbled to the ground. Lifting up the offender, he simply raised an eyebrow at the cheerful upside down grin from the second amphitheatre.

"Got you, got you!" Jessibelle cheered, flapping her own wings in triumph.

"Yes, yes you did," Alfred huffed in amusement. "Where's your brother?"

There was a crunch from above. He looked up just as a few small branches and one more amphithere came tumbling down, smacking him in the face and sending him backwards to the dirt.

"...right, that's what I get for asking."

Eleanor, who had gotten herself off of him in time, peeked up into his field of view, looking worried for him. Jessibelle and Johnny peeked in right after her, the last the one to speak up. "Ssorry! Not hurt too too bad?"

"I'm fine," Alfred promised, blinking away the last of the daze from the fall before pushing himself up. "How about you guys? Any of you hurt?"

"No" "Nope!" "I'm okay."

"I see you guys are having fun out here," A new voice replied, drawing everyone's attention.

"Hey, Mattie," Alfred replied as Jessibelle quickly abandoned him to make a short hop-glide over to his brother, who obligingly held out an arm she could land on and latch around. "Is it late?"

"Well, it is past lunch," The Canadian pointed out, smiling in understanding as the amphithere made her way up to his shoulders and settling into place. "I figured you guys might be a bit hungry by now, especially with all the practice you've apparently been doing."

"Sweet!" The American cheered, pushing himself to his feet while the other two amphitheres on him scrambled to grab hold. "Last one there's a rotten egg!"

Matthew and Jessibelle exchanged looks as the other three ran (or rode) ahead, deciding that their mutual siblings were probably doomed to never grow up. They then made their way after at a much more sedate pace, knowing that the three would at least wait for them before tucking in.

Probably.

~0~0~

[34] The French-Canadian Way

"I think I know who Artie likes," Alfred told his boyfriend one day, taking another swig of his milkshake while Mathieu choked.

"You what?" The Canadian asked, raised eyebrow at the southern Nation.

"I just noticed a few things while I was visiting him since he's been a bit mopey since he and Jason broke up, and I figured if anyone could tell me if I was on the right track or not it'd be you."

Mathieu raised an eyebrow. "And what makes you think he told me anything about his personal life like that?"

"Well, you had to have some reason to suddenly start liking him after we split up during the war."

The Canadian gaped for a moment before composing himself. He hadn't even thought about how that might have looked to anyone else, honestly, and it just highlighted how observant his boyfriend could be when he wanted to be. "Seriously?"

Alfred shrugged. "Well, I mean, you'd been tense since the twenties, and then you were relaxed again after making buddies with him? It just sorta makes sense from all the other things you told me, especially since he's, y'know, bi and stuff."

"Sometimes you scare me, Alfie," Mathieu sighed, shaking his head. "Yes, that's when he told me, but he never exactly gave me a hint as to who - said he didn't want to start wailing on like Spain."

The American snorted in amusement. "That'd be the day. And it's not like I'm positive here either; the only way we'd know for sure is to ask, and you know how he'd get."

"First he'd yell at you for snooping, then yell at me for getting involved as well, then back to you for getting me involved, then he'd lament the youth in this day in age, and then depending on his mood after that he'd either talk to us about it or send us home to think about what we'd done."

Now Alfred laughed boisterously, slapping his leg as he tried to reign himself in again. "Seriously, I can see all that happening really easily. C'mon, though, focus here."

"Alright, alright, tell me what you saw there."

"Well, when I'd gotten there, I had a bit of a cold cause of the slump, right?"

"I think I remember that, yeah," Mathieu nodded slowly.

"And so when I mentioned it, he offered to make some of that honeyed tea he always made for me when I was a kid, and I accepted. While he was off doing that, I decided to sit down in his comfy chair, 'cause seriously the dude never lets anyone sit in it and it's the most comfortable thing ever even though it's old as balls."

"Alfred, focus."

"I'm getting to it. Anyways, you know how Arthur has those shelves of books and knick knacks from his adventures and stuff?"

"I do."

"Right, well, I noticed from there that you could see a couple of the lower shelves pretty much on eye level from his seat, and most of the stuff I hadn't really noticed before since all the other chairs face away from them and they're not at a standing eye level. And, when I checked, they were all from the same place."

Alfred paused, looking up at his boyfriend. "They were all from Kiku's place. And I'm not talking tourist crap - this is the same sort of stuff I get when Kiku takes me on tours around his place personally, like the back country and small villages and stuff you don't find on most tour guides. I mean he had probably a hundred of these things, some of them probably from the first time he ever went over there, and all of them were clean and like, super carefully cared for."

"...oh." Well then. No wonder even Alfred was suspicious at that point. "Why hadn't anyone noticed before?"

"Like I said, it was only the shelves clearly visible from that chair, and he never lets people sit in it. Not to mention no one looks above or below eye level most of the time, so unless they were pointed at it they wouldn't really notice it, especially if they're talking to him at the same time. Not to mention, well…"

"Most people wouldn't assume any of that meant anything special," Mathieu finished. "Why do you, though?"

"Because he raised me," Alfred replied simply. "And he hasn't really changed all that much since I was a kid."

"...and?"

"The only other things he's ever taken care of as carefully were the things I gave him back then."

Mathieu frowned, then paused, eyes widening. "Wait, I remember that shelf - the one in the back by the library, sometimes half-blocked by the door, right?"

"Yeah, I noticed that too; guy is way too sentimental for his own good." The smile Alfred offered at that belayed any sort of barb behind the words. "I just figured, if he's putting forth the same amount of effort towards Kik's stuff, then Kiku must be pretty important to him even if he doesn't say anything about it."

"Huh," Mathieu pondered that eventually deciding that he could see where his boyfriend was coming from. "Still, let's ask him about it first; it's his relationship, after all."

"Of course - who do you take me for?"

~0~0~

[40] Youtube Stars

Alfred glanced down to his cellphone as it rang and froze, eyes going wide.

"Uh, Matt, take over the stream for a minute, kay?"

His brother tilted his head to see the number, pressed his lips together, and nodded. "Just let me know if you're gonna be gone for the rest of the stream."

"Right, got it," The American mumbled, answering the call as he scrambled out the door. "Uh, hi boss."

"Alfred."

"...I forgot about a meeting, didn't I?"

"Fortunately, not this time."

The Nation exhaled in relief. "Thank god, I thought I hadn't put something down in my planner or something-"

"However, I am curious as to why I had to find out from my daughter that apparently two certain Nations are not only stream media sensations, but have apparently been so for nearly eight months now."

"Shit, you mean Sasha found it?" Alfred swore, before rapidly paling again. "Uh, I mean-"

"She's apparently been following you for the past two months," His boss replied, sounding far too amused at the situation. "Apparently she enjoys your horror game streams."

"I'm pretty sure everyone does, since people keep sending them in for me to try out."

There was a brief pause, then, "So what is this all about, anyways? I know you two tend to be more active on social media, but…"

"Well, it was my idea, really," Alfred shrugged. "I saw some of the other youtubers and streamers that were getting popular and really connecting to their audiences, and I thought that it would be a nice way for Matt and I to sort of get a feel for our people, interact with them and stuff."

"I see. Do the other Nations know?"

"...I have no idea. I mean, we have seventy thousand followers from dozens of countries, but none of them have mentioned anything about it at meetings so…"

"Will this interfere with your paperwork and other duties?"

"Of course not!" Alfred replied, frowning. "It's why I have three planners; if anything, it's forced me to be more organized."

"Then for now, I think I'll avoid mentioning anything to the others as long as you don't start slipping."

"Thank you, boss," The Nation relaxed again, grinning now that he was in the clear.

"Of course, I do have one request…"

A few minutes later, Alfred walked back in, flopping back into the other seat while he watched Matthew clear out the next level of the game he'd started before the call.

"Everything alright?" The Canadian asked with a frown, glancing his way.

"Yeah, it's all cool, no worries," Alfred offered a smile. "Though I do sorta have a request for a game after you're done with this level…"

"Right, that should be another few minutes. Do I want to know what happened?"

"I'll tell you later."

The 'new subscriber' jingle popped up just then, and Matthew spared a moment to glance at the name before giving his brother a flat look.

"...during the next break."

_bro_bama is now subscribed!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Indeed, it's time for more of these! Also yes I finally wrote out who I chose for French!Mattie fic for the Arthur pairing, but you don't have to consider it official if you want to imagine another ship instead. It's just who I happened to have in mind.


	33. Dragon's Triangle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eleanor did not sign up for this. ...okay, maybe she did, but not /this/ this!
> 
> Nyotalia, Tomb Raider x-over / fusion
> 
> Posted May 8 2016

Eleanor woke up, wondering why the world looked so strange before realizing she was the one upside down, not the torches. Her body was bound in cloth and rope, and she was currently about eight feet off the ground.

Eh, she could handle that. Squirming and stretching slowly but surely shredded the makeshift cocoon, and she was prepared for when it loosened enough for her to slip out and take the relatively short fall in stride, even managing to land on her feet. The ground under her crunched, and she grimaced at the sight of old human bones under her.

"God, what even happened last night?" Her senses currently told her it was early morning, but that was at her place, and she couldn't quite remember where she was right now.

Shaking her head, she started making her way down the narrow passageways, more than freaked out by the sheer number of skulls and cadavers on display. If it hadn't been so horrifying and obviously real, she'd've tried to pass it off as a tasteless prank by someone, maybe Julchen or Anya.

(But no, hadn't she been on a ship before this? Something about a storm… augh, she hated recovering from concussions, even if it was coming along relatively quickly!)

Pulling debris out of the way, she made her way further, looking over all the collections of junk and supplies and skulls (urgh!) that had to have been collected from multiple shipwrecks - wrecked? Yeah that sounded about right, it'd been so sudden though -

Someone lept from the ceiling, causing her to jolt back from the blocked off pathway she'd been examining.

"Who are you?" She asked, eyes narrowed at the almost wild look in his eyes. She'd seen men like that before, and every time she'd had to clobber them before they went through with whatever they were thinking about doing.

"I'm here to help you… I saved you…" He replied, stepping closer and grabbing her arm, pulling insistently.

"Hands off!" Eleanor snapped, yanking her arm back and almost throwing him off his feet.

"No, can't let you leave, they'll find you, they'll take you!" He shrieked, filthy nails biting into her skin now.

With a frustrated groan she brought her other hand around, smacking him hard enough to instantly knock him out, but thankfully not killing him. With another shove he was off her, his body left to lie in the water while she clambered up and steadily pulled apart the makeshift wall slash door the loony had more than likely created.

After some almost-swimming, she finally emerged into a larger room, the way out blacked by one final wall of defense that, after a moment's examination, had the doorway cleverly hidden underneath the water. She crawled out, and made her way to the entryway, basking in the sunset momentarily before realizing she had one last thing to do.

"Try kidnapping other people when you're trapped in, fucker," She muttered, kicking at the walls of the cavern until the loosened boulders started shuddering and falling, collapsing at least that part of the caverns. Even if he had other ways out, this seemed like a main one, and the satisfaction of denying him something was enough to have her humming merrily even as she clambered her way down to what looked like a small footpath.

~0~0~

Okay, maybe the loony wasn't quite so loony, she decided as she looked upon the man who had once been hers and was now absolutely batshit insane, even if his face was pleasant and composed. Sakura was smiling politely, though it was obvious after a glance that she'd also caught whiff of something off with him even if she couldn't confirm it.

"Hey, do you have something for my scrapes? I had to do a lot of crawling and climbing to get here," She asked her friend instead, sitting down even as the Japanese personification pulled out a salvaged container of medical paste.

"Stay still, please, Eleanor-san," She leaned in close, focused entirely on reaching the scrapes around her face and neck first.

" _Don't trust,_ " The American personification whispered in Japanese, lips blocked from view at that moment and voice carried away by the fire and the light breeze.

Sakura hummed, leaning away as she made her way down her friend's arms, covering up wounds that would easily be healed by morning with some rest. In fact, the call of sleep was very much tempting, even though her mind cheerfully told her it was time to wake up, and Eleanor wasn't certain whether her friend shill had her self-protection knives on her person or not.

As if reading her mind, Sakura finished and moved away, offering a more honest smile. "Please, get some rest. We need our energy to look for the rest of our friends in the morning."

Right, her friend would be alright regardless, and she had been walking for a good chunk of the last day. With a nod of understanding she laid back and closed her eyes, not quite drifting to sleep, but definitely more focused on assessing her current state and finishing piecing together what had happened.

Her eyes snapped open after what felt to be about an hour, feeling the last of the drugs that'd been in the water Mathias had offered burn from her body as she forced herself up. On the far end of the small platform, Sakura had the man pinned to the ground with her knives, snarling sharply in response to his scowl.

"You okay?" Eleanor asked as she walked over to join them, admiring the clean cuts to his achilles tendons that was likely the main reason he wasn't attempting to run right now. A gun was also lying to the side, which the American claimed for herself, pulling out the magazine to check the rounds and caliber before slotting it.

"He tried to drug me and take me while we slept," She replied simply. "He's been planning it since I mentioned our reason for being here."

"You mean the Yamatai and Queen Himiko expedition?" She kept an eye on her citizen, feeling his burst of surprise and annoyance while wishing she could read people's minds. Ah well, emotions tended to give more than enough away as it was, and she knew his name and general mental state, so that was all she really needed. "Think he knows something about them, then?"

"I would imagine so," Sakura shrugged. "I know there was a military base here in the last world war, but he claims the people there died to wildlife and disease."

And he was wondering why she'd automatically know otherwise, because she'd been the only living person who knew where the island was when Eleanor had asked about the legend, and had admitted to feeling the people stationed here get killed off by _something_ methodical and merciless.

"Not to mention someone has to have been leaving those corpses and skulls around," Eleanor noted, kicking back at remaining calm even as his panic spiked. "Which I doubt that loony I found earlier did all on his own. After all, with so many wrecks, we can't have been the only people to survive, right?"

Possession, anger, and a desire to gut them both. "Well, those people would need a leader, right? Someone to keep some form of civilization going while waiting for rescue?"

"It would have to be very rigid to last this long," Sakura caught on, gaze sliding up to the mountain as she frowned. "But that's not the only danger here. There's something near the peak…"

Surprise and panic and… desire? "You think it might be whatever killed the soldiers?"

"Perhaps."

And Mathias confirmed it with his smug satisfaction, probably thinking they'd be killed by whatever lurked on the isle. "Right then, let's get going. And… no reason to leave anything behind."

She closed her eyes, wincing slightly at the feel of her friend killing one of her people so easily, even if it was a mercy and a preventative measure. The blades had been carefully cleaned and put away before the American opened her eyes again, the two of them getting to their feet and looking up the mountain together.

"Right, what's the fastest way up to the military base? If nothing else, it'll give us an idea of where to go."

"The fastest and safest path will more than likely be guarded heavily."

Eleanor's grin was sharp. "I dare them to stop me."

~0~0~

After checking in with their ship and saying they were planning on heading up the mountain to find the old radio tower and send out a message, they managed to make their way up, slipping around the camps of restless cultists, enough of whom were American or Japanese that they acted as beacons in the backs of their minds. The base had clearly seen better days, and the records that had survived described the experiments on attempting to harness the weather before going into whatever had killed the people there.

"Onis…" Sakura frowned, fingers sliding softly over the pages, as if mourning the men who had lost their lives to this fool's crusade. "I wonder…"

"Are we talking metaphorical onis, or is this getting into legit supernatural stuff?"

"...when I was young, I heard from my emperor about Himiko. He and his men feared her, said that her palace was guarded by men with unnatural strength. It's… possible, that the people who got away were not exaggerating their experiences in the slightest. We would have to get to the palace to be certain, though."

"Another climb, then?"

"It's at the very peak, so unfortunately, yes."

"Well if these people can get up there to worship their dead queen, so can we."

~0~0~

"Holy fuck, I hate soul-sucking ghosts so fucking much," Eleanor panted, watching the skies clear into a beautiful mid-morning from the peak of the ancient palace. "When we get to your place, we are going to spend an entire damned week getting pampered, you got it?"

"Hai, Eleanor-san," Sakura exhaled, coughing into an arm as her body shook off the last of the attempted possession of her person by the demoness known as Himiko.

"Also, next time I want to investigate something that sounds cool, I want you to smack me, got it?"

"Hai, Eleanor-san."

"...we should probably check in with the crew in a few minutes."

"Hai, Eleanor-san."

They both fell silent, both able to admire how much more relaxing it was to not constantly be dealing with an aura of evil hanging over the entire island.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, this started out as a Side Effects of Suerstrength drabble, but then sort of took on a life of its own. It's too disjointed to be its own fic, and doesn't belong in the bunny since I've no motivation to write more, but it's a thing, so enjoy.
> 
> Alternative title: Why Being Nations Generally Breaks Game Plots


	34. Space Hike: The Ultimate Borderlands

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Are you really shocked that Alfred can get into trouble no matter where in the universe he ends up?
> 
> Posted June 7 2016

"Captain's log; stardate: the first of June 2016. We've just arrived over an inhabitable world thanks to the awesome as ever navigation of Kaleo, with no huge signs of any civilization. Tony says that it should be safe to go down with just a light mask and ground suit to protect from the higher methane content of the atmosphere, so Toris 'n I will be beaming down there later to get some samples and study the local wildlife and stuff.

"It really sucks I couldn't get Rose or Eddie along, but since everyone was busy, it's just minimal crew. I mean, even Bella would've been helpful with plant stuff, but Ginny said she and Ben can't come anymore after they almost took over that last planet with the lizard folk, the Yalfos or something, can't remember off the top of my head. Which sucks, but not much I can do about it.

"Anyways, I've got a good feeling about this place. Lots of water, plenty of green stuff, it's probably gonna be a nice vacation spot for a few days until we have to get back to Earth. If there's any dangerous wildlife, we'll have stun guns, so we should be able to get away without harming anything permanently, or at all if we're lucky. Maybe I'll even have time to bring back a gift for the States if Tony says it's alright-"

"Mr. America!"

Alfred looked up from his recorder, grinning at his European friend. "Hey, Toris, 'sup?"

The Lithuanian offered a small smile. "Tony says that he's found a transport site for us to beam down at, whenever you're ready."

"Sweet!" The American cheered, turning off his recorder and setting it to the side before standing up from his desk. "I'll be out in just a minute. This is gonna be the best vacation yet!"

"If you say so, sir."

~0~0~

While Toris was far from being a space enthusiast like Alfred or even Ivan, he didn't generally mind being dragged along on the American's many celestial adventures either, which was good since he ended up on them more often than not. Part of it was just a lack of desire to argue against being pulled away from his paperwork for a few days, part of it was the fond memories of his more active, intense childhood, and mostly because no one else wanted to find out what sort of trouble the blond would find himself in that time around.

And really, it wasn't Alfred's fault (usually) - alien worlds were _alien_ for a very good reason, and no matter how careful one was to be inoffensive and friendly, something would get mistranslated or misinterpreted, and then it'd be a scramble to the landing site or an apology, depending on the crisis in question. Once they'd even had to run when the planet's volcanic activity suddenly started acting up, which wasn't exactly something one could blame on human action.

Thankfully, there weren't any people to accidentally offend here this time around, and Tony had made sure the planet was stable and temperate before letting them come down, so Toris allowed himself to get into the rhythm of collecting samples of the various plants around the landing site. He even hummed cheerfully as he worked, glad to be away from work and civilization for a bit without risk of someone barging in and interrupting his relaxation.

"TORIS!" Alfred shrieked as he leapt over a log, almost catching himself on a low-hanging branch as he skidded to a halt, leaving behind trenches in the softer dirt. "We gotta get going now!"

The European Nation paled, not even questioning as he dropped the current flower in his hand and followed on the heels of his younger friend. After the incident where he'd ended up hurling all over the blond's back due to a mix of the jostling from being thrown over a shoulder and his own sensitive stomach, he was thankfully allowed to make the run on his own, which also had the benefit of leaving him too focused on keeping up to wonder what his friend had done this time.

Behind him he could hear snarling, and the breaking of foliage as whatever was after the American started catching up. Fear inspired a new burst of speed for them both, allowing them to skid to the pick-up zone in time for Tony to have the beam ready, more than likely having picked up their elevated heart rates well before now.

Even as the tingling feeling of being drawn up to the spaceship enveloped him, drawing him away from the surface like a feather, he saw several ugly, almost wyrm-like beasts stampede into the clearing, their gazes narrowing in the sunlight even as they lifted their heads in search of where their target went.

As the ship sank down to surround them, he imagined he saw the leader shift its head to stare directly at them the rest following soon after. Then they were out of view, the doorway closing below them just before gravity reasserted itself, dumping both panting pseudo-humans on the ground to regather themselves.

"What were those?" Toris asked after a minute, pushing himself up from his hands and knees while Alfred seemed content to keep lying face-down on the ground.

"No fucking clue," The American groaned. "I saw a cave and decided to investigate a bit - not out of chatting range, but just to see what was there. I saw some weird rocks, turned the flashlight on to get a better look, and realized they were eggs about the same time their ma and her family got real pissed at the light and started after me."

The Lithuanian sighed, wondering how their luck had turned so quickly. "Maybe we should wait before going back down. And maybe try somewhere else."

"Definitely on board with that plan."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eh, maybe one day this'll be expanded into a proper series, but for now I'm more focused on clearing out my ideas doc and finishing fics. At the least, I want to close down the Rare Pair Files and Ice Creamery first so that I have fewer things to divide my attention.
> 
> But yeah, space adventures with Kaleo the pilot, Tony the navigator / science officer, Alfred the 'captain', and whatever other people he can drag along as the unwitting crew. Fun stuff for those who like Star Trek or anything similar.


	35. Ignorance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's not just the newcomer who can feel lost.
> 
> Posted July 1 2016

"Woah, what the heck was that?"

Matthew strongly resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the young man staring at his now-empty hands, not for the first time wondering what had compelled him to save someone so infuriatingly nosy. "It's just a banishing spell - most mages learn it once they have the power to, since it's a lot easier to deal with than just leaving the trash around."

"Okay, I got that but, like, does it send it somewhere, or make it just dissolve, or what?" Alfred asked, ignoring the pursing of Matthew's lips.

At first he'd humored the other man's raving about another world and portals, figuring that it was a mild insanity from being lost in the further wilds for who knew how long with only questionable foods available to him. Matthew considered himself a kindly enough soul, if preferring his privacy, so he'd thought nothing at the time of escorting him back to whichever village or town he'd come from so his family could help him right himself.

Then, of course, he'd been foolish enough to cast magic in front of him. He'd actually winced when he'd realized he'd used a minor shock hex to drive off the harpy who'd been following them, convinced the mundane would start panicking over a 'mysterious and deadly mage' in his midst.

Instead, he'd been the wide-eyed focus of a silent, impressed gaze for about three seconds before the questions started, dropping off the man's lips as if they were all trying to push out of his mind at once. He lost track of them all somewhere around the mutterings of 'natural laws' or some such, content to just stare back at him blankly until Alfred finally stopped to take a breath.

Such was his first introduction to the concepts of 'science' and its erstwhile companions 'method' and 'skepticism'. And oh, was there a lot of that, more than anyone he'd ever met would dare think of, much less breath into the winds.

"It banishes it. They don't go anywhere, they just stop existing."

Three, two, one- "That violates thermodynamics, though!"

Matthew sighed. "It's magic."

"That doesn't mean it doesn't have to follow any rules," Alfred shot back, as he always did when he used that argument, especially since they both knew magic did have rules, though obviously the untrained of the two had no idea what they were. "You can't destroy or create matter or energy - it's as fundamental to everything as gravity or electromagnetism!"

As the mage resisted the urge to, again, remind the other man that both of those laws could be ignored with magic, he couldn't help but lean forward slightly as Alfred started delving deeper into the mathematics behind the law, because it was rare to have someone outside of a paid tutor or a master teaching so thoroughly, and those were still leery of passing on all their knowledge. Matthew had to admit, if only to himself, that there was something nice about being able to learn something new without having to go through all the messy trials himself for once, and something nicer still about someone willing to challenge him for no other motive than to make him think.

Mundanes, in general, were too awed and afraid of mages, and other mages were more interested in sniffing out new secrets than anything. Few, he knew, would ever waste time questioning why their world was the way it was, so long as they got results.

Alfred's world, it seemed, demanded the question be asked. Or at least, those of his profession, though the other's bias made it difficult to say either way. Maybe that was why he didn't like the questions - it made him more and more aware of just how much he _didn't_ know, when once he'd been so certain in his intellect.

"Where does the mass go when you change forms?"

I don't know.

"Why does making fire take more energy than making ice?"

I don't know.

"What makes some people able to control magic while everyone else can't?"

I don't know.

"Why?" "Why?" "Why?"

"I don't know, alright?"

Alfred balked, the half-asked question dying on his lips as he watched Matthew work through several deep breaths before continuing. "I don't know how most of this works - I've always been taught to be more concerned with results and immediate needs, not- not why this spell or that incantation do what they do."

He grimaced, looking away into the woods as he continued. "I'm sorry if that makes me sound stupid or backwards to you, but I never lived in some fantastical land where everyone has the chance to learn whatever they please, and demand the universe tell them everything about it before sharing it with everyone else. I don't know about magnets or physics or potential energy or calculus because none of those things have ever mattered, and- stop laughing, damn it!"

Indeed, Alfred had started losing it somewhere along the way, corners of his eyes actually tearing up from the force of them. As Matthew glowered at him, he got it under control, though a grin still graced his face. "Dude, I wasn't laughing at you, really, I just-"

He giggled again, hand over his mouth as he finally continued, "I thought you were getting pissed 'cause _I'm_ an idiot, not for making _you_ seem like one. I was just trying to figure out what I could before we reached civilization so I could at least pretend I didn't grow up under a rock somewhere, and I just figured you were one of the types who isn't much into having to explain everything in small words."

...oh. Matthew could feel the heat rising in his face even as he sunk back down to his seat, wondering why he hadn't really stopped to realize that every concept he'd been introducing to Alfred was just as new to him as atoms were to the mage. Asking about the banishing spell wasn't just about how it worked, he'd stand out like a sore thumb if he freaked out the first time he saw it happening in the middle of town while everyone around him remained unphased.

Were their situations reversed, he'd probably attempt to do the exact same thing.

"...sorry."

Alfred shook his head. "I should be apologizing to you. Maybe we should try this again, only without making each other feel dumb all the time?"

Matthew finally found a laugh escaping him alongside relief. "Alright, I think I can handle that."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I honestly spent most of this wondering what I was writing, and am still somewhat unsure, but it's done and I'm one day into the drabble-a-day marathon for this month. Originally this was supposed to be more actual AmeCan-like, but nothing shippy came out so like. Shrugs. That's what I have the NAH for.


	36. Alfred's Magic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Because there has to be reasons he doesn't use it much.
> 
> Posted July 3 2016

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aha, I think these are both really sucky, but my friend assures me they're cute, so I guess here's drabbles for days 2 and 3. Dunno if this'll be my definitive headcanons, but I wrote something which should count for something so. Yeh.

"Hey, Alfred?"

The American looked up from his DS at the Danish man leaning against the table. "Yeah?"

"You can do the magic mumbo craziness Arthur and Lukas and Soren can, right?"

"Well, I mean technically yeah."

"Then why don't you?"

Alfred tried his best to hold back his flush, sincerely wishing that that topic would go back to being unremarked on already. "I just don't like doin' it, ya know? It's not super heroic or fair if I solve all my problems by waving a wand and stuff."

Mathias raised a brow. "Yeah, but that doesn't mean you can't prank people or whatever with it."

"Never really thought about using it for that, 'specially since Ginny'll actually kill me if I go near her stuff again."

The Danish man groaned in frustration, and looked about ready to give up, until Matthew approached from his other side and asked oh so innocently, "Wait, are you talking about the rabbit incident?"

Mathias twirled on the Canadian, eyes wide and a grin starting to encroach. "What rabbit incident?"

Alfred stared down his brother as a few other Nations gave up on pretending they hadn't been listening in, willing him to stop, but the Canadian ignored it with only a pleasant smile hiding an evil, evil vengeance for the totally awesome birthday gift he'd been given. After all, who wouldn't want their house repainted in freedom colors?

"Oh, it was way back when we were colonies, late 1600s, and Ginny was put in charge of Alfred's lessons while Arthur was gone. Apparently one of her rewards for good behavior was a brief magic lesson, which I can only wonder what she was thinking at the time."

Arthur looked to be in agreement, while Alfred was doing his best to hide behind his hands as the story played out.

"Anyways, so this time she'd apparently been going over basic transfigurations, stone to brick and whatnot, and had him practicing for a while. Since his latin wasn't - and still isn't - the greatest in the world, he managed to stumble over a few words during the largest of said practice casts, not only completely failing to change the rock he had into brick, but turning all of his states into rabbits for close to a week before it finally wore off."

A series of snorts and giggles broke out around the room, and Alfred had mostly managed to slide under the table while the majority of the room was distracted.

Mathias didn't even try to hide it, choking out being bouts of laughter, "How the heck did you find out about this?"

Matthew, smug prick that he was, replied, "Oh, I asked Ginny about it ages ago - apparently she's still upset over how hopeless he is."

Yeah, see if he got an invite to Al's house anytime soon. Jerk.

~0~0~0~0~0~

"Ah, Alfred? What are you doing?" Francis asked, looking somewhat warily at the wide spread of ink-stained cards across the floor.

"Eh, just some seal type stuff, pretty basic really," The American replied idly, fountain pen carefully tracing out a perfect circle around the text already in place.

"Shouldn't you have someone on hand just in case?"

Alfred looked up to his brother, brow raised. "Franny, it's incantations I suck with, not runes. Artie's the one who does the wand waving mess anyways, and he's welcome to all that. I'd rather stick with something that just requires patience and memorization, not a bunch of stupid shit about the exact phase of the moon or inflection of every other syllable."

The older Nation wasn't entirely reassured, but still moved further into the room to examining one of the cards more closely. "What do these do, anyways?"

"Oh, they're for a game."

"...a game?"

"Uhuh, it's a simple one, but I remember it was fun when Ginny and I played, and I figured it wouldn't be hard for anyone else to learn. Hand me one of the ones near you and I'll show you."

After a moment's thought, he grabbed one with a small stylized heart in the corner, passing it over the rest of the cards to the American, who promptly slapped it back down on the ground with the circle inlay face up, fingertip resting against it for a bit before the line started to light up.

In a small poof of smoke, a tiny and rather cutesy succubus appeared, blowing a kiss up to them.

"Erm, Alfred?"

"It's just an illusion, see?" A finger passed through the figure, its small hands smacking ineffectually at it until it pulled back again. "They can hit each other, but the most they can do to anyone is scare 'em a bit."

"I think you scare me more at the moment."

Alfred just laughed merrily. "Aw, don't be like that, Ginny never let me try actual summonings."

Francis couldn't help but be glad for that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aha, I think these are both really sucky, but my friend assures me they're cute, so I guess here's drabbles for days 2 and 3. Dunno if this'll be my definitive headcanons, but I wrote something which should count for something so. Yeh.


End file.
